Generations
by Ruthibobs
Summary: The team gets a surprise when an anomaly opens from the future. But can they all deal with the consequences of what they learn from this? APOLOGIES FOR VANISHING FOR SO LONG, NOW UPDATED!
1. Chapter 1

**OK, so, an idea I had a while back that I finally got round to writing. It's amazing what you'll do to get out of learning German**

**Disclaimer: It's rather obvious I don't own the characters, as they belong to whoever owns Primeval. Wish I owned Becker or Matt though :P**

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Becker entered the locker room and walked up behind Jess.

"Everyone's planning on going out for a drink tonight. Care to join us?"

Jess jumped and span round in shock, nearly falling over. Becker caught her hands, keeping her on her feet.

"Oh! Becker! I... I didn't hear you come in," she gasped.

He smiled slightly.

"Well?"

She flushed and nodded, thrilled at finally being asked out by Becker, even if it was as part of a group.

"Good," he said, turning to leave. "We're meeting in the main room. See you there."

Pulling a mirror out of her bag, she redid her make-up and breathed deeply._ 'Relax,'_ she thought. Putting everything away, she walked slowly to the main room. Entering, she smiled at everyone.

"Great, now slow coach has finally arrived, we can go," Abby teased, jumping up from her seat in Jess' chair.

Reaching the cars, Abby, Connor and Matt got into one, leaving Jess alone with Becker in the other. Connor winked at her just before climbing in and Matt smirked at Becker, who, as always, ignored him.

The journey was unusually quiet for Jess, who spent it staring out of the window, trying to ignore the man sat next to her. Becker was using driving as an excuse to concentrate on something other than her. The tension was so thick you could almost slice it with a knife.

The pub was crowded and noisy, yet Becker managed to find them a table quite quickly. Weaving through the crowd, a barmaid smiled flirtatiously at him and asked, "What can I do you?"

'_Go away and stop perving on him,'_ Jess thought, annoyed. Leaning closer to Becker, she slipped her hand under his on the table. He looked at her, surprised, then squeezed it. The barmaid glared at her, then started flirting with Matt instead. Rolling her eyes, Jess simply enjoyed the feeling of Becker's hand on hers.

The evening was going quite well, with them having had a couple of drinks each, when Matt's phone rang. Pulling it out, he checked the ID and swore.

"Yeah?" He listened for a moment then swore again. "OK, thanks for letting us know." He put the phone away and stood, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. "There's been an alert, guys. Not far from here, just a couple of blocks away. Jess, we haven't time to take you back, so you're coming with us. The night operator is doing your job for tonight. Let's go."

Finishing his drink, Becker stood, putting in his earpiece and shrugging on his jacket in a fluid motion. Picking up Jess' coat, he held it for her to put on. She smiled her thanks, flushing as Connor wolf-whistled.

"Act your age, Connor," Becker said despairingly, shaking his head.

Leaving the pub, Jess felt nervous. This was her first mission. She hoped it went well.

"Well, negative on the visual," Becker told Matt. "It must be either round the back or inside."

"You two check the back garden, we'll search inside. Let me know the second you find anything."

Heading round the house, Becker opened the gate. Not surprisingly, it creaked. Loudly. Jess shivered, cold and nervous. Noticing, Becker offered her his jacket. She accepted it thankfully, knowing he never felt the cold.

As they entered the garden, they both stopped dead in surprise at what they saw.

"Matt? We have visual. And, you may just want to see this."

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**Please review, it makes my day.**

**Rx**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, second chapter up really quickly as I wrote them together.**

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Matt charged round to them, Connor and Abby close behind.

"You didn't have to run, they weren't going anywhere," Becker said, clearly amused. The anomaly was open behind him, and Connor hurried off to lock it before anything else came through. Stood between him and Jess were seven children, ranging from about eight to sixteen. The tallest was glaring at Becker, clearly protective about the small girl next to him.

"What's your name, kid?" Matt asked him.

Glancing at him, the boy stood to attention and said, "Benjamin, sir." It was clear to all present that he was from a military family.

"Yeah right," one of the younger boys snorted. "His real name's Hilary," he told them. "Only he hates it, so he uses his middle name instead."

Becker raised an eyebrow at this, while Connor simply burst out laughing.

"Hilary? What kind of a name is that for a guy?" he snorted.

"A dumb one," Hilary muttered. "Hence the reason for me choosing to go by my middle name. I have to keep it, though, 'cause it's my grandfather's name."

"OK, so Benjamin, where are you from?"

"London."

"When?"

"2048."

"The future," Jess breathed.

"What year is this?" he asked.

"2011," Becker replied absentmindedly. He was frowning, studying them. Suddenly, he realised something and hurried round to face them. "I know who you are."

"Well, we'd love it if you were to share this with the rest of us," Matt said.

"Look at them. _Really _look at them. That girl, she could be a younger version of Abby. That one's Jess, but with a bit of someone else. She's Jess. She's got your eyes and hair."

"He's you and someone else," Jess realised, looking closely at Ben.

"Exactly," Becker continued. "He said he was named after his grandfather. That can only mean one thing.

"They're our descendants."

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**Dun-dun-DUN! :P Review please.**

**Rx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for all the reviews - I've never had this many over only 2 chapters! I feel honoured :)**

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"What?" everyone exclaimed.

Matt looked at Becker worriedly. "Are you OK?" he asked. "How many drinks did you have?"

"Three, but that's not the point. The point is that these children are clearly related to us."

Matt looked at the others, unsure.

"Just look at them," Jess said quietly. "That boy is almost you exactly." The boy in question was tall with messy fair hair and piercing blue eyes.

"You." Becker pointed at Hilary. "You're named after your grandfather." It wasn't a question.

"Sure."

"What's his last name?"

"Becker."

Connor raised an eyebrow and mouthed 'Hilary?' to Becker, smirking.

"So your last name is also Becker?"

"No, sir. It's Anderson."

Matt froze. He was going to have a son? Who with?

"Well, I don't think much of my daughter's choice in men," Becker commented, smiling slightly. Connor laughed.

"OK, well, I think you should all go back home now," Matt said hurriedly, trying to mask his shock. "Your parents will be getting worried. Connor, unlock the anomaly."

"But-"

"No buts, Connor! Do it!" Matt snapped. He couldn't cope with this right now; he just wanted to go home. It had been a long week, and this wasn't helping.

Slowly, Connor moved to unlock the anomaly. However, just as he had done so, it started to throb, and shut seconds later.

Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine, we'll take them back to the ARC. Lester will want to talk to them, anyway."

"Where will they sleep tonight?" Becker asked quietly. "They can't stay at the ARC; there're no beds."

"Take them home with you, then," was the reply. "If you're so sure they're your relatives, then where's the problem?"

"You know damn well none of us have the space for seven kids," Becker hissed angrily.

"What about the company flat?" Abby butted in, trying to stop a fight from breaking out. The alcohol had clearly brought out the alpha male in the two of them, and if they weren't careful then someone would get hurt.

"Good idea," Matt said. "Take them there. I'll head back to the ARC and sort out the details. Get these guys to the ARC tomorrow morning." He walked back to the car, climbed in and drove off.

Jess sighed. "Well, there went our ride," she said, staring after Matt. "How are we all going to fit in one car?"

"I'll stay here with Connor and three of the children. Abby takes you and the other four to the flat, leaves you with them and comes back for the rest of us."

"Erm, why don't I go with Abby?" Connor suggested. "She's probably better with kids than me; girls are normally good at that kinda thing. Ouch!" Abby had just hit him round the head.

"Don't be sexist," she warned him. "We'll have to sit four in the back, but we can probably get away with it. If we get pulled over, we can always show our ID," she said to Becker.

"OK, see you soon."

Four of the boys followed after the pair of them, leaving Hilary and the two girls behind. Catching Becker watching them, Hilary glared at him, real venom in his eyes. Seeing this, Becker sighed. The kid was obviously going to be difficult.

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**Like before, please review. I've had nearly 150 visitors, yet only 7 reviews and I'd really like to know what you all think as it goes on.**

**Rx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been ill and just couldn't concentrate on anything. Thankfully, it's not the kind of wait some of my other stories have had, I just really wanted to update this a few days ago. Anyways, it's here now.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you cheered me up while I was ill. I love you all loads and this one's for you guys!**

**Disclaimer - If I owned Primeval, this would be the storyline for Series 5 and you wouldn't have had to wait over a year to watch it again because I would never have cancelled it. Therefore proving that I don't own it. Just the kids. Even the really annoying ones.**

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"So you're telling me that seven children just wandered through an anomaly, which is apparently from the future, and Becker is now convinced that they're your descendants?" Lester sighed. "And I thought it was just you scientists that had the crazy ideas."

"He has a valid reason for thinking this," Matt answered, leaning on the glass wall. "Not only do the kids look like us, but one of them has the same name as Becker, is named after his grandfather and obviously comes from a military family. Also, his last name is Anderson. Thus Becker's theory."

"I knew it was a bad idea, taking this job," Lester muttered. "So you're basically in-laws with a man you don't get along with. Brilliant. That's really going to help working relations."

"Yeah, well, that won't happen for several years yet, sir, so I'm not particularly worried about that. What I'm concerned about is how they're going to get home. The anomaly shut. They're stranded and they're only kids. Their parents must be worried sick."

"Yes, well, can't be helped really," Lester said, picking up some papers. "When they arrive, bring them in to see me. In fact, bring the whole team."

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Knocking on the door, Becker checked his watch. He was nearly ten minutes late, but rush hour traffic was to blame. He'd had to come in the opposite direction to the ARC, right through the centre of London.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Jess teased, opening the door to let him in.

"Traffic," he protested, holding his hands up in mock surrender. She laughed and led him to the kitchen.

"Jeesh, just stop flirting already," Hilary groaned, walking into the room and helping himself to some sweets that were in a bowl on the counter. "It's disgusting and is putting me off my food."

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Since when did having a laugh count as flirting?"

"Erm, since it's obvious that you two love birds fancy each other well loads, even talking can be classed as flirting."

'Ignore him,' Jess mouthed at Becker, who decided to leave it.

"Grab your stuff, we're leaving in a minute," he told the other kids, who were poking their heads round the side of the door. Jess smiled as she watched them hurry off, then caught herself.

"Just look at me," she laughed. "I barely know them and I already love them to bits. What will I be like when I've spent years with them?"

"You'll be the best grandmother they'll ever have," Becker said, half smiling. "Well, that is if you ever find a guy that'll have you. Ouch!" Jess has started throwing sweets at him and one had hit the top of his arm. An evil grin grew on Becker's face.

"What are you going to do?" Jess asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing," Becker replied nonchalantly, before grabbing a glass of water and throwing it at her. She gasped in shock as freezing cold water trickled down her back. "Except maybe that."

"There was ice in that, you idiot!" she screamed whilst laughing, then jumped on him and started tickling him.

"Get off!" he squealed. Hearing him make this sound made Jess laugh and start to tickle him even more. Picking her up easily, Becker held her against the wall and pinned her hands over her head. "Can't tickle me from there, can you?" he murmured, leaning close.

"Becker, remember the kids," she hissed.

His face fell. _'Damn,'_ he thought.

"Hold this thought," he whispered, then kissed her swiftly before dropping her. "I'll go unlock the minibus," he called over, already making his way over to the door.

Hilary watched him from the shadows of the lounge door. He'd heard every word, and so badly wanted to say something, to shake the perfect Captain Becker up. But he knew he couldn't. He couldn't mess with the timelines, his parents had drummed that into him years ago. Telling someone could affect everything, possibly causing his mother to never be born. Then he wouldn't exist, so he couldn't come back, meaning that Becker would never learn the truth about what he would do, meaning that his mum would be born and that he would, and then he would come back and probably make the same mistake of telling Becker, and so on. Basically, a time paradox. Generally considered by most experts to be not good. _"You'll be the best grandmother they'll ever have," _Becker had said. Yeah, she probably would be, Hilary could see that. But thanks to Becker, he'd never have the chance to find out.

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**If you understood that last paragraph, you are cleverer than my friend who just took one look and went 'Huh?'. And if another friend is reading this, I don't care that I wrote cleverer! It's how I talk, now live with it!**

**Please review, I'd love to know what you think. Rx**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, quick update to make up for the wait last time. This is mostly just a filler chapter. And thanks again to everyone who reviewed.**

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The youngest of the children, a young girl of about eight, stared around her in shock as they entered the ARC. Becker hid a smile, knowing she'd probably never seen anything like it in her life. He noticed that Hilary didn't look impressed, and guessed he'd seen it before.

"You've been in the ARC already," he commented, walking next to him. Hilary glanced up at him.

"Yeah, though it's better than this in the future," he said, looking straight ahead again.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"You should still be in school, not places like this," Becker muttered angrily.

"Yeah, well, if there'd been someone who could have babysat us, maybe I wouldn't have been here during holidays and stuff. As it was, parents and grandparents were here, so there wasn't really much choice. They found someone later on for the younger kids, but told me it was my choice whether or not I stayed or came, seeing as I'd already seen everything. I decided to come. For one thing, the technology was better for when it came to IT coursework. And another, I always had help handy for homework. Uncle Conni does come in useful for something, you know."

Becker smirked. He'd remember that one. He knew Connor would remember his name, so he needed all the ammunition he could get.

"Conni?"

The kid on the other side of Becker grinned evilly. "Bekah couldn't say his name when she was little, but said Conni instead. It stuck."

Becker laughed. From behind, Jess smiled. It wasn't often Becker laughed, and the kids seemed to be bringing out the best in him. She was glad they'd come.

"Ah, Becker, Jess. Glad you could finally arrive." Lester's voice travelled over the loudspeaker to them. "Bring the children in here please."

"When did he get that installed?" Becker demanded.

"While you were off," Jess told him. "Decided he wanted to be able to shout at people while staying where he was."

"Brilliant," Becker muttered, pushing open the office door.

"So this is them?" Lester glanced at them then turned his attention back to Matt. "What are your plans?"

"I say we use bait. Make sure he catches sight of Emily and knows she's alive. Then find someone who looks like her, put that someone in the apartment and catch him as he goes looking for her."

"Why not just leave Emily in there?" Lester asked. "Surely it would be easier than finding someone who looks like Emily."

"Too dangerous. Ethan's proved he's stronger than her. We need someone who can fight."

"Now you're making it even more difficult," Lester said, rolling his eyes. "It'll be almost impossible to find someone like that."

"I'll do it."

The voice came from the other side of the room. Looking over, they saw the children and Becker.

"Who said that?" Matt asked.

"Me." The eldest of the two girls stepped forwards. She had mid-length, curly, chestnut hair and was tallish, about 5,6".

"Again, too dangerous. You're what- Thirteen? Fourteen?"

"Fifteen actually," she corrected Matt.

"Yeah, well, you're not doing it, kid," he told her.

"My name's Isabella, not kid," she replied coldly. "Please don't talk down to me, I am just as intelligent as you, if not more."

"Yes, well, we can finish this discussion later," Matt told Lester. "Right, we need to deal with you guys. We're going to need your full names and ages, so shoot."

"Isabella Temple, fifteen."

"I've got a son!" Connor whispered excitedly to Abby.

"Shut up, Con," she hissed back.

"Christopher Temple, eleven."

"Hilary Benjamin Anderson, sixteen. This is Rebekah Anderson, eight. You'll have to excuse her, she's shy." Rebekah was hugging Hilary's leg, sucking her thumb while staring out at them all. "And, please, call me Ben, not Hilary, 'cause I just won't answering to it."

"Edward Anderson, ten."

"Jonathon Becker, fourteen."

"Stephen Becker, twelve."

"They said full names, you two," Isabella reminded them.

"Aw, piss off," Jonathon muttered.

"I _hate_ my middle name!" Stephen groaned.

"It's Jonathon Charles Becker and Stephen James Becker," Isabella told the team. "So, this is us. Whatcha gonna do about us?"

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**There we go, introduced everyone. Might even find out what they all look like at some point :P**

**R&R please! Rx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Managing the update a day this time :P Just a short one, leading up to action in the next.**

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"What are we going to do with you?" Lester said. "Well, I was thinking something along the lines of getting them home."

"The anomaly shut," Becker said. "How exactly are we supposed to get them home if the way is gone."

"We could stay here," Isabella suggested. "We're interested in the ARC, had to be with parents like ours. I'm used to dealing with any dinosaurs Dad brings home as pets. We can help. Not in the field, but here, in the ARC."

"Absolutely not, too dangerous," Becker told her.

"You guys keep telling us that, but we don't care. We can take care of ourselves. And, come on, it's not like we'll actually be out there fighting," Isabella argued. "We want to help."

"The girl can help Jess and Abby," Lester said, already losing interest. "The boy can help out around the place. He's old enough to leave school, the rest of them have to go. Including the girl, who will only help out during spare time. There we go, problem solved. Now what does a man have to do to get some peace and quiet in this place?"

Opening the door, Becker motioned for them all to leave.

"Who the hell does he think he is, ordering us around like that?" Ben exploded as soon as they were outside.

"The boss," Abby told him, wandering off. "Isabella, come meet the animals," she called over. Isabella grinned then ran after her.

"Christopher, right?" Connor asked.

"Sure."

"Wanna come look at some cool tech stuff?"

Christopher grinned.

"Only if you'll call me Chris."

"Deal."

They walked off, already lost in the world of geeks. Becker watched them, shaking his head silently. Clearly Chris took after his grandfather.

"Let's go find somewhere for you guys to sit, OK," Jess told the other four. They left, Stephen and Jonathon laughing, Edward trying to join in with them and Rebekah holding Jess' hand tightly.

"She acts younger than eight," he commented.

"Wasn't a good pregnancy," Ben told him, staring after them. "She's always been like that. Might change one day, we don't know."

Becker sighed.

"Right, well, that just leaves you," he said, looking at Ben. Ben's face was sullen.

"I don't want to be told what to do," he said quietly. "I want to be able to choose."

"What would you choose?"

He glanced up at Becker.

"I'd be a soldier, like Mom. My Dad's a scientist, but it never really interested me. He wants me to go to Uni and get a degree and a good job, though. She agrees. So it looks like I can't have what I want. Ever. 'Cause they won't let me join the ARC."

"You don't want to," Becker told him, remembering Sarah. "People die here."

"It's what I want to do," he said firmly, ignoring Becker. "Even though you never let me. You never cared what I wanted. You wouldn't teach me to fight. I had to ask one of the soldiers to. You wouldn't teach me how to shoot, saying that if you had it your way I'd never learn. You didn't even want me to know about the ARC. You told my parents to lie to me, to say that they were government scientists but not tell me what they did. You never cared about whether I was happy or not. You only ever cared about yourself." He was almost shouting by the end.

Becker stared at him.

"If I said those things, then it was for your own safety-" he begin, but Ben interrupted.

"No, it wasn't. It was because you were too damn busy to care about what I was doing, and don't you dare try and say anything different."

"But Ben-"

Swinging round, Ben hit Becker in the face, hard.

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**Please review, it means well loads. Rx**


	7. Chapter 7

**This one's only short. Decided it seemed to end well there, so I left it. Next should be longer.**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. I love you all lots and lots! In fact, you can all have a cyber chocolate chip cookie!**

_

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Swinging round, Ben hit Becker in the face, hard._

"Bastard!" Becker gasped, holding a hand up to his nose. It felt broken, but he wasn't sure.

Ben was standing in front of him, looking angry but unsure, fists clenched by his sides. Matt was stood nearby, watching carefully. He considered stepping in, but then decided he'd see what happened.

Becker straightened up and glared at Ben. "Never do that again," he warned him. "You may just be a kid, but next time I'll hit back."

"I'm not a kid!" Ben yelled in frustration. "I'm old enough to have left school. I'm old enough to have moved out, to have a full-time job, to get married and have kids of my own. To go out to the pub and get pissed. To drive. That means I'm not a child."

"Well right now you're acting like one!" Becker shot back. Ben threw another punch at him. Becker was ready now, though, and blocked it easily.

"You always talk down to me," Ben cried. "You never treat me like an adult. Hell, you never treat me like a fucking teenager! You act like I'm six years old, and I'm not. I hate you! You ruined our family!"

With that, he turned and ran off before anyone could see the tears that were starting to fall from his eyes.

"What the hell was that all about?" Matt asked, coming over. Becker put his hand back up to his face and gasped in pain. "You have a split lip and what looks like a broken nose," Matt told him. "I think the kid can fight."

"No, I'd never have guessed," Becker said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Are you OK?" Matt asked, after asking someone to fetch him an ice pack.

"Does it look like I'm OK?" Becker snapped, pointing at his face. "Thanks," he smiled at the girl, taking the ice pack off her and holding it up to his face. "He broke my bloody nose!" he continued, quieter this time though.

"Can't see the difference myself," Matt commented, smirking, before ducking the pen that was thrown at him.

"I really don't know what Emily sees in him," Becker muttered, walking over to a chair and sitting down.

Hearing him mention Emily, Matt started to think. Could she be the one he was going to marry? Would she even stay that long? _'Ah well,'_ he thought. _'Only time will tell.'_

_

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_**Please tell me what you think. Rx**


	8. Chapter 8

**We learn a bit more about Ben and the future here. Sets the scene for the next action.**

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Ben sat in the armoury, surrounded by guns. He recognised a couple as the EMDs his grandad used to rave about, but wasn't sure how to load or shoot any of them. He just liked sitting there, as it was peaceful. No-one was telling him what he could or couldn't do. He'd always liked guns, and his dad had always been telling him off everytime he found him sat in the armoury, even though he'd never touched a weapon. He wouldn't touch them, not without permission. He wasn't stupid, no matter what other people thought. He knew that they were dangerous and that if he played with them either himself or others could get hurt. He'd always understood that.

He thought about what had just happened and sighed, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall behind him. He knew he shouldn't have hit Grandad Becker or sworn at him, but he'd just got so mad. His temper always was his main fault, he knew that, but it didn't make controlling it any easier. He would blow up at the slightest thing, never mind something as big as this. Years of hatred towards his grandad was stored inside him, and while he would never dare to do anything like that back home, here the guy didn't know him. His parents weren't there to yell at him, so he didn't care any more. And Grandma Jess was there.

Seeing her had been a shock. He'd only ever seen pictures of her, but his Uncle Tom had talked about her almost constantly. His mum had only been a baby when she'd died, but Uncle Tom had been two, nearly three, so knew her a bit. She looked so young in real life, much younger than in the photographs. Quickly calculating the year, he worked out her age. Nineteen. Only three years older than him. That meant that she was twenty-one when she died.

Thinking about this caused him to start crying, the tears rolling down his cheeks untouched. He'd always been sad over not knowing her, but meeting her now made it worse. The rest of the original team were still alive, though Uncle Connor scarecly made it through the day without either Aunt Abby or Grandad Matt threatening to kill him sometimes. Grandad Matt was apparently more secretive these days. Something to do with a mission that he'd had, though he'd never been told more. Thinking back to the few bits of contact he'd had with him in this time period, Ben understood what they'd meant. In the future Grandad Matt was great fun. Constantly flirting with everyone, always ready to play a game with the kids, or to tease Uncle Connor.

Grandad Becker, on the other hand, never had anything to do with them. He was ill, his mum said. Ben didn't know what it was, he just knew that it had changed his grandad in ways he couldn't have imagined. All he did anymore was sit in a chair by the window and stare out across the garden. But even before that he'd had better things to do than to spend time with Ben or the others. He practised with his guns or was all depressed and would mope on his own. His mum had told him it was because he felt guilty about everyone who had died, but especially Grandma Jess. There'd been an alert while they were out, and she'd insisted on going with them because they were close by. A creature had come through but Becker hadn't shot it while he had the chance. In fact, he'd had several chances, but he'd ignored them all. They'd also split up. And, because of all that, the creature had killed her. Becker had arrived too late to save her, instead shooting the creature just after she'd died. After that he'd become a shell of his former self, Uncle Connor had told him, when he'd asked about Grandma Jess. He stopped caring about life, and for a time even forgot his own children. When he'd come back to life, as Uncle Connor had put it, he was even more bitter than before. He'd nearly told Grandad Becker all this, when he'd told him how he'd ruined their family.

Standing up, Ben wiped away the tears and grabbed one of the guns. He might hate his grandad, but at least he had good reasons why. And he was going to do something about it.

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**Next chapter - Confrontation time. What will Ben say to Becker? Will it affect the future? Will he do something he'll come to regret later? Well, if I get enough reviews I'll consider answering these questions by posting another chapter soon. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, You are all amazing! Cyber hug for everyone! And a cyber muffin (flavour of your choice) if you review again. Rx**


	9. Chapter 9

**OK, so, once again it's a short chapter. Just a filler chapter really, as nothing really happens.**

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Becker glared at the medic, who was poking and prodding his nose.

"Ow," he said in reply to the doctor's question on if it hurt, rolling his eyes. "Of course it hurts, you idiot. It's broken. If something's broken, it normally hurts at least a bit."

"Well, you were stupid enough to get it broken."

"I got hit!" Becker protested. "It wasn't exactly like I had a choice or anything."

"Next time, try to annoy less people," he was told. "You'll have a crooked nose for the rest of your life, I'm afraid."

Jumping down off the table, Becker left. He needed to talk to Ben and sort things out before they became any worse.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a clue where he was.

* * *

"Matt, have you seen Ben?" Becker asked, sticking his head round the door of Matt's office.

"No, sorry," Matt replied, glancing up from his laptop. "Is he with Jess?"

"No, just been there. I'll check the locker room." Becker backed out of the office and glanced round worriedly.

"Try Nigel at Security," Matt called after him. "See if he's on any of the CCTV camera feeds."

"Thanks," Becker called back, already on his way.

* * *

"I need to look at the feeds from the last half an hour," Becker said, running into the room. Nigel leapt to his feet and saluted.

"Yes, sir!"

If he hadn't been worried, Becker would have laughed. "At ease, Sergeant," he told him. "It's not an inspection."

Sitting back down again, Nigel pulled up the feeds from half a dozen of the cameras and set the time on them all. Suddenly, Becker jabbed his finger at one of them.

"Pause it!"

Nigel did so, and the feed stopped, showing a blurred figure exiting the armoury. Becker charged out of the room, yelling on his earpiece for back-up to meet him near there. One look had been all it took to tell him that trouble was lose in the ARC, with the name of Ben Anderson. But he wasn't the main danger.

No, the main danger came from the gun he was carrying.

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**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. I've never had this many reviews on a story before, so you make me feel all happy whenever I go on my email and find my inbox clogged up with reviews. I love you all! Don't let me down now. Rx**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers, I've put this up tonight for you, instead of making you wait for it.**

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Becker ran down the corridor to the armoury, where he grabbed an EMD and headed in the direction Ben had taken.

"Sergeant Tellans, I want you watching those cameras. I need to know where he's going," he ordered over the headset.

"Yes, sir," Nigel replied, following Ben's progress on the screens in front of him.

Becker reached a t-junction and stopped. "Which way?" he demanded.

"Left," came the reply. "He's heading towards the menagerie." Becker ran on, thinking about Abby and the girl that were in there.

"Get a message to Abby, tell her to get out, now!"

* * *

Ben walked steadily along the corridors, not too slow yet not too fast, holding the gun firmly in his hands. He only half knew his way round this ARC, as it was greatly changed in the future. When he reached the next double doors, he glanced through and swore. The menagerie. He'd headed the complete opposite way to where he'd meant to go. Opening the doors, he slipped inside and glanced round. No sign of Isabella, which meant Aunt Abby must have taken her somewhere else. He knew that Grandad Becker would be following him soon, and hoped that the gun he carried would be enough to stop him. If it wasn't, then he was screwed. There was simply no way anyone was going to forget the fact that he'd wandered round the ARC with a loaded gun.

Suddenly, he heard noises from outside. It sounded like feet, and he realised that Becker had found him. Then he noticed the security camera pointing straight at him. Running over, he jumped up and smashed the front with the handle of the gun. Now that they were blind in this room, he could escape unseen.

But it was too late for that. It took Becker one kick to break in, but he found himself facing the muzzle of a gun.

"Ben," he said quietly. "Put the gun down."

Ben's hands were shaking slightly, but at this short-distance it didn't matter. If he fired, Becker didn't stand a chance.

"You had to play the hero," Ben said calmly, his voice a lot steadier than his hands. "You never could wait for back-up to arrive. You see, I know all about you. Everything there is to know. But, someone once told me something I've never forgotten. That hero's don't exist. And they were right. You were my hero. Until I was nine, I wanted to be you. In my eyes, you were perfect." Moving round, still with the gun pointing straight at Becker, Ben stopped next to the doors. "Put the gun down." Slowly, Becker crouched and placed the EMD carefully on the floor, before straightening up again. "Now kick it away." He did as he was told. "Good." Ben's voice shook slightly now, but he showed little emotion as he locked the doors. "When I was nine, I found out the truth about you," he continued. "I learnt everything about you. It may have been by mistake, but that didn't matter. I couldn't forget it. It broke my heart, to know what you'd done."

"What?" Becker asked, staring at Ben. "What had I done?"

"That's just it!" Ben cried. "I can't tell you! I want you to know. I want you to hate yourself as much as I hate you for it, but I can't tell you because it would change the timeline. If you knew, you wouldn't do it, and then something drastic might happen. And that might all end up in one of us not existing. Which, you know, would kinda suck."

Through the window of the door, Becker could see Matt. He looked shocked to see their grandson pointing a gun at Becker. He was doing nothing, however, probably in case Ben get scared and actually shot Becker. Noticing that Ben had started talking again, he swapped his attention back to him.

"Do you want to know what will happen to you? You end up useless. You spend your days sat in a chair, unable to move, never talking. A miserable, pathetic, old man. You're only sixty-three, yet you look and act like you're in your ninties. So now, when you stand there and let everything happen, you'll know what your punishment will be. And I won't help you. She's wonderful, and you let it happen!" Ben was shouting now, tears falling again. "Then afterwards you give up. You give up on your own kids! How can you do that? Grandad Matt was a far better father to my mum than you ever were. Is it any surprise she married my dad, when she spent most of her childhood round there, because her own house was so shit." He reached up with his other hand, steadying the gun which was shaking badly. Becker was staring at him numbly, unable to move. Being told his future had shaken him, and he desperately wanted to know what he was going to do. Yet, at the same time, he wished Ben had never said anything. He didn't particularly want to know the future, he just wanted to live each day for itself, and to survive each anomaly. Glancing back at Matt, he saw that he was trying to pick the lock.

"Are you going to shoot me?" Becker asked.

"I don't know," Ben replied. "I want to, but I can't risk changing the future. Though, maybe if I shoot you, none of it will happen."

"If you shoot me, you'll never be born," Becker said quietly. " A time paradox will occur, and apparently they're really bad. So you really don't want that."

Just then, the doors behind Ben burst open and Matt entered the room.

"Don't move!" Ben yelled. "I'll... I'll shoot him." His voice trembled, telling Matt that he didn't want to, though his hand was now steady, saying that he would. It took Matt a couple of seconds to take in the situation and decide what to do. Stepping forwards, he reached for the gun. Ben's finger curled on the trigger, and he pulled it just as Matt got hold of it. From the look on his face, it was an accident. He stared at Becker, surprised to see him still standing, as Matt pulled the gun out of his hands. As soon as he was completely safe, Becker turned on Matt.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he said angrily, eyes flashing. "He could have shot me!"

"The safety was on the whole time," Matt said, showing him. "You were completely safe. The kid doesn't know how to use a gun. He said himself that no-one had taught him."

When Matt turned to Ben, he went pale and backed away against the wall. Matt sighed and crossed his arms, looking at him.

"You really shouldn't have done that," he said. "You shouldn't have pointed the gun at him, _or_ told him anything. You know that's against the rules." Ben looked slightly ashamed, but mostly defiant.

"What are we going to do with him?" Becker asked, before Ben could reply.

Just as Matt was about to answer, the siren went off.

"Take him to the main room and leave him with Jess," he said to Becker. "Promise to stay there?" he said to Ben, who nodded once, reluctantly. "Good."

Becker picked up the EMD and turned it on. An anomaly would be perfect for taking his mind off things, so long as he didn't become preoccupied with the future when he was under attack. He now had an awful lot to think about.

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**Next chapter won't be up for a couple of days, I'm going away for the night, so I have no internet tomorrow :( Will hopefully get the next chapter written for Wednesday though, so I can update as soon as possible. Please review, I really want to know what you think about this chapter Rx**


	11. Chapter 11

**OK, I know I said I couldn't update till tomorrow, but I just couldn't help it. So I have spent my entire lunch hour writing this. It's a thanks for all the reviews I got - I love you guys loads! But now I really can't update more till tomorrow, so please review and tell me what you think.**

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Matt ran into the main room, with Becker and Ben close on his heels.

"Where is it, Jess?" he asked, stopping next to her and looking at the screen.

"It's right here," she told them, her face creased with worry. "At the ARC. It's in the basement. No sign of a creature incursion yet."

Just then, they heard a faint scream.

"Best change that," Matt said, turning towards the guns.

Ben glanced at Ben, seeing that the boy was pale and biting his lip, clearly worried about his friends. "Any ideas?" he asked Jess. "Who? What? Where? Anything will do."

"Sorry, nothing yet," she said, typing away frantically.

Another scream was heard, closer this time. Ben gasped, recognising it.

"Rebekah!" he whispered, running off towards the scream. Becker swore, remembering the frail-looking girl. Grabbing a gun off Matt, he took off after Ben, praying he got there in time.

Ben was running blind, but he didn't care. It didn't matter, so long as he reached them before the creature. Charging around a corner, he skidded to a halt. Rebekah, Stephen, Jonathon and Edward were standing a few feet away from him, Jonathon shielding the others behind him. A couple of seconds later, Ben found out why.

Behind him, Ben could hear breathing and the light padding of footsteps. Turning oh-so-slowly, he caught a glimpse of the creature before it leapt, landing with all four paws on his chest, causing him to fall backwards to the floor. A cry of alarm automatically forced its way from him as he hit the ground, creature firmly planted on top of him.

* * *

Becker heard the cry and started running faster. _'Not Ben, please not Ben,'_ he prayed frantically, before instantly feeling guilty. He didn't want anyone to die, but he just wanted to make things up to Ben somehow.

Turning the corner, Becker stopped suddenly at the scene before him.

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**Please don't kill me! I promise I'll update tomorrow, I just couldn't help the cliffhanger. Please review Rx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well, I promised I'd update, so here we go. It's not very long, and not much happens, but I did promise. Might get a bit more up tonight, though it'll most likely be tomorrow now.**

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"Becker, where the hell are you?" Jess yelled into the headset, checking all the cameras. "He's managed to find a blind spot," she told Matt, who was standing beside her. "And he's not replying. You have to find him!"

"He's not wearing a headset," Matt replied, picking up Becker's earpiece from a table and showing her. Turning on the EMD, he called a group of soldiers over to him. Together, they headed down the corridors, two soldiers splitting off and going down each corridor. "No sign yet," Matt said over the headset to Jess. "Do you know where he headed?"

"Towards the rec room," Jess said, checking the screens. "The children were there. The creature must have got to them." Sorrow filtered through in her voice, though she tried her best to keep it hidden. Matt sighed, knowing that the children were almost certainly dead now. Unless, of course, the creature was a prehistoric fluffy bunny, but that really wasn't likely. Of course, there was no reason to tell Jess that.

* * *

"Abby!" Connor shouted, seeing her down the far end of a corridor. She was running along with Isabella, but stopped when she heard his voice. "Where do we put the kids when there's an anomaly?"

"Dunno," she replied, joining him and Chris. "The youngest ones are in the rec room, we can leave them there. Can you take Isabella?"

"No way," Isabella cut in. "I can help, and I will. I'm not playing nanny while you're in danger." Her face was resolute, and Connor knew that she'd never change her mind now.

"Fine, you go with Abby to the main room. You can stay with Jess and help her, you're too young for the field. Tell Matt and Becker I'll meet them at the cars. We'll go via the rec room and I'll leave Chris there with the others."

With Abby agreeing reluctantly, they split up again. Connor led the way back down the corridor towards the rec room and, unknowingly, Becker, Ben and the creature.

* * *

Abby arrived at the main room and glanced round, confused.

"Where's Matt?" she asked, walking over to stand next to Jess, Isabella just behind her.

"He's gone to find Becker," Jess replied, eyes fixed on the screens. They were showing the camera feeds, Matt present in the top left-hand one.

"Why isn't Becker here?" Abby said, even more confused. "I thought we were all meant to come straight here if there was an anomaly."

"We are and he did. However, the anomaly is here, inside the ARC. In the basement to be precise. So I need someone to head down and lock it. You'd best go, as Connor isn't here yet. Becker went after Ben, because he ran off when we heard a scream. We think that he thought that it was his little sister who'd screamed, so he was trying to protect her." She sighed. "Doesn't help though. I mean, he isn't armed or anything. He's just putting himself in danger, and he's also putting anyone who goes after him in danger. Like Becker." Her voice broke slightly, and Abby squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

"Do you know where they were?" she asked.

"The rec room," Jess said, her voice steady again as she continued checking the cameras. "At least, that's where I left them, and I don't think they'll have moved." She glanced up at Abby. "Are you OK?" Abby had gone white with fear.

"Connor just went to the rec room," she whispered. Isabella instantly thought of her little brother, who was with him. Both were walking straight into danger!

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**Yeah, I know, I'm evil, I didn't give you any info on Ben and Becker. Hehehe :) Next chapter, I promise! You can all tell me how much you hate me in your reviews :P**

**In reply to Mrs. Mansfield - Potts, thank you for the review! As you can see, I've left you hanging there for a bit longer. And thank you to all my other reviewers. You're amazing and incredibly supportive! If it wasn't for you, this story would be an awful lot shorter now. Your reviews keep me writing, so please keep sending them in.**

**I can't promise that I'll update tomorrow, but I might not be able to tomorrow either, as I am going to see the marvellous Milton Jones :) That'll mean no updates till Monday, as I have no internet this weekend - how will I survive?**

**Rx**


	13. Chapter 13

**This is hot off the press. I've literally just written it in the past half hour, right after posting the last chapter. I decided that it was cruel to leave you wondering for too much longer... Nah, I didn't really, I just felt like writing and this came out. And I figured I might as well update tonight, seeing as I can't for the next few nights. So, enjoy!**

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Connor walked quite quickly along the corridor to the rec room, with Chris struggling to keep up. When they reached it, however, one glance was all it took to tell that it was empty. From around the next corner, they could hear strange noises, and Connor signalled for Chris to stay there before trying to creep forward to the corner slightly. As usual, he failed. Before he had even got halfway, what looked like an over-grown wolf had leaped out and was crouched in front of him, looking ready to leap. Connor froze and held his breath, terrified.

From behind him, though, Chris yelled in delight, "Sam!" and ran past Connor. Connor reached out to stop him, but wasn't quick enough, and could only watch in horror as Chris approached the savage-looking beast.

To his surprise, the creature licked at Chris' fingers, then rolled onto his back and wagged his tail as Chris tickled his tummy.

"What the...?" he said, staring at them. The creature clearly wasn't dangerous, but what was it?

* * *

_Behind him, Ben could hear breathing and the light padding of footsteps. Turning oh-so-slowly, he caught a glimpse of the creature before it leapt, landing with all four paws on his chest, causing him to fall backwards to the floor. A cry of alarm automatically forced its way from him as he hit the ground, creature firmly planted on top of him._

_Turning the corner, Becker stopped suddenly at the scene before him._

Ben was lying on his back, with a huge grey wolf-like creature on top of him. What Becker couldn't see was the massive grin on Ben's face as he looked at the creature. Lifting his gun, Becker pointed it at the creature and was about to shoot when Ben noticed him and yelled, "No!" in panic. Pushing the creature off him, he jumped to his feet and stood in front of the creature protectively.

"Get out of the way," Becker hissed at him, trying to get a clear shot.

"No," Ben insisted. "If you want to shoot Sam, you'll have to shoot me first."

"I'm warning yo-" Becker stopped suddenly, thinking about what Ben had just said. "Did you say Sam?" he asked, confused.

"Sure," Ben replied, shrugging. "He's Sam, my pet dog."

"Dog?" Becker raised one eyebrow. "It looks more like a wolf on steroids."

Ben laughed and rubbed Sam's head. "He is, in a way. He's a Biejasokut. That's a wolf, crossed with Alsation, Rottweiler and Border Collie, that's also been mutated with some crazy DNA. They're generally army dogs, but his mum abandoned him when he was a puppy 'cause they never look after more than four pups. He was the fifth and runt of the litter, so I looked after him and brought him up. When he was two and old enough to start working, I'd grown attached. I wouldn't let Mum take him, and she agreed to him being the family pet. And here we are, three years later. Inseparable. Which is probably why he came through the anomaly looking for me." Ben had crouched down next to Sam and was stroking him, smiling. Becker watched him, noting the affection that clearly came through. It seemed completely right that Ben's hate was coupled with love, yet it seemed strange to watch him coming alive and opening up slightly over what was basically a dog.

Then they heard the noise. Becker came alert for about twenty seconds, before he worked out what it was. Hiding a smile, he bent and whispered an idea into Ben's ear, and watched the evil grin that spread on his face. Muttering some instructions to Sam, Ben stood back. The Biejasokut trotted over to the corner and leaped round, crouching down slightly. Becker listened carefully and heard all noise stop. Then he heard someone (he guessed it would be the boy that wasn't present, Connor's grandson) yell, "Sam!" and saw him appear and run up to Sam, who gave up the fierce pretence and licked him happily.

"What the...?" Connor said, and Becker walked over to the corner and looked at him, smirking.

"You need more practice at sneaking," Becker informed him, smirking even more. "You were almost louder than normal, though that isn't actually possibly when I think about it."

"You sent it to scare us," Connor accused him, narrowing his eyes, and his suspicions were confirmed when Becker smiled. "You little bas-"

"Connor!" Becker interrupted. "The kids!" he hissed.

"Oops," Connor said guiltily. "Sorry."

Matt choose that moment to arrive, charging round the corner, guns blazing. Well, EMDs at least.

"Don't shoot!" Becker shouted, just before he was hit by one of the EMD beams. Collapsing against the wall, he swore several times, clutching his chest.

"Hilary!" Connor said, in a mock-shocked tone. "The kids." His only reply was a glare off Becker, which made Connor grin. He was going to have a lot of fun with that name.

"Sorry, Becker," Matt said, shouldering the EMD. "We thought you were under attack."

"Next time, look first," Becker said, gritting his teeth and using the wall to try and stand up. He failed, and slid back down again.

Stephen was staring at Matt in shock. "You shot him!" he said angrily.

"It was a mistake!" Matt protested, holding his hands up. "I meant to hit the creature."

"The creature is their pet, so I wouldn't hit it if I were you," Connor butted in.

Ben ignored all this and looked at the younger of his grandfathers, before making a quick decision. Reaching down, he grabbed Becker's arm and helped drag him upright.

"Didn't think you liked me enough to be helping," Becker said, smiling at him weakly. Being shot by the EMD for the second time in only a few weeks was having a bad effect on him, especially as it had been set very high, what with Matt having been unsure what creature it was.

"You followed me," Ben said bluntly. "You didn't care about if you got hurt, you just followed me. I guess that proves that you care about us." _'For now,'_ he added silently, but he made the decision to not say it out loud. Becker looked awful, and he felt he'd suffered enough for one day.

Becker smiled, knowing what those words meant. Although he'd never admit it out loud, or even to himself, Ben was starting to thaw towards Becker a little bit.

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**Thank you to the two people who managed to review between the last chapter and this one. You guys are seriously quick! Please review, it will cheer me up on Monday after a weekend of no internet. Plus, there is no better sight at the beginning of a boring IT lesson than an email inbox full of FanFic emails. ConsCrit is also welcome. Rx**


	14. Chapter 14

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated for ages! I had no internet, and then I was just so busy and everyone else kept updating and I ended up reading their stories instead of writing. And then I couldn't access any of the documents on my computer and had ideas for stories that I'm not even writing yet. But enough excuses. Here is the update I promised for Monday, and once again sorry! I hope this makes up for the wait, along with the other two chapters I want to get up today.**

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"What happened?" Jess squealed, as she watched the group enter the main room, Becker limping along with an arm over Connor and Ben's shoulders.

"Something along the lines of the creature belong to this lot and that git shooting me," Becker said, rolling his eyes. "Again." Abandoning the ADD, Jess rushed over to him and then hovered in front of him, unsure of what to do. She hadn't thought before moving, and now felt like an idiot.

"We'd best get you to the med bay," Connor said, starting to move Becker towards the doors. Ben followed.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Becker protested. "I don't need to see a doctor." He lifted his arms over their heads and tried to walk away. Needless to say, he failed. Feeling his legs give way before he'd even managed one step, he automatically grabbed for the nearest thing to him – which just happened to be Jess. She gave out a squeak of surprise as he caught her arm. She wasn't strong enough though, and he fell heavily, but not letting go of her arm, so she ended up lying on top of him, bright red.

"Becker!" she hissed, embarrassed.

"Sorry," he said, smiling apologetically at her. Ben bent down and help her up, then looked down at Becker and laughed.

"Just help me up," Becker muttered, glaring at him and pushing himself up on one arm, then wincing and turning pale before letting himself fall back again. "And then I'll go to the stupid med bay," he said quietly, realising that his arm was broken. Watching him, Matt understood what had happened. Reaching down, he got hold of Becker's other arm and wrapped it round his neck, then stood up slowly, letting Becker find his feet. When Ben moved forwards to support his other arm, though, Matt shook his head.

"No need, kid, I can get him there on my own. You stay explain the dog-thing to these guys." Reluctantly, Ben nodded and watched Matt help Becker out. "You're a bigger idiot than I thought," Matt said conversationally. "If you hadn't tried to be oh-so-brave-and-strong, you wouldn't have a useless arm. Though you wouldn't have ended up in that position with Jess." Matt smirked, remembering the embarrassment of both Jess and Becker at that moment. "You seemed to be enjoying that. I wonder if she felt anything?" Becker glared at him.

"Are you taking me just so you can bait me, or did you actually want to help?" he asked coldly.

"Bit of both," he admitted, smirking again. Becker sighed with relief as they arrived at the med bay. "Doc, one idiot soldier to be looked at," Matt called out. The doctor entered the room from the other side and watched Matt ducking out from under Becker's arm and sitting him down on the chair.

"On the bed, please," she said, striding forward. Both men's eyes flicked to her and they frowned as one.

"Who the hell are you?" Becker asked, trying to stand, Matt's hand forcing him down. "Where's Dr. Michaels?"

"Ask the person who set loose a bloody dinosaur then let it get to the medical bay before catching it," she shot back, glaring daggers at Matt, who looked sheepish.

"I didn't actually set it loose," he muttered. "And I was only just arriving at the time, hence why it took me so long to get here."

"Yeah, well, it's not like he can hear your apologies now," she said sadly. Shaking her head, she put on a professional face and walked over to Becker. "And I'm afraid you really need to lie on the bed." Matt helped him back up, then over to the bed. Sitting, Becker swung his legs round but stayed upright. "Down," she said firmly, following them and pushing him back.

"I'm not a dog," he grumbled.

"What happened?" she asked quickly, assessing his injuries.

"He was hit by an EMD, then fell awkwardly and broke his arm," Matt summarised, deciding to leave out the bit where it was him who'd shot him.

"Those EMD's are more trouble than they're worth," she said, injecting Becker.

"They're better than guns with live ammo," Matt replied. "If he'd been shot with that, he'd be dead."

"Well, maybe you and your soldiers should wait just a second and look before you shoot, then I wouldn't end up with people lying here, wasting my time because of trigger-happy idiots like yourself! Now, I need to work on the captain, so if you wouldn't mind leaving..." She opened the door for him. Becker chuckled after Matt had left.

"I'm guessing you don't like him," he murmured, feeling light and dizzy, like he was well and truly pissed. "What was in that?" He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the needle.

"Something to calm your muscles down, try and stop the ache and make you able to stand and walk on your own. Also some strong painkiller, otherwise you would hate me when I move and splint your arm."

Reaching out, she picked up his arm and examined it carefully. Unknown to her, Becker was examining her at the same time. She was tall, with long black hair and chocolate eyes that complimented her dark skin wonderfully. "What's your name?" he asked quietly, watching her gather the things she needed. She glanced at his face, then back to his arm.

"Dr. Rahgsa," she said. "You're Captain Becker, right? I've seen you around." Becker nodded slightly. She smiled. "The guy who has no first name."

He sighed. "Everyone found it out, thanks to the kids arriving."

"What kids?" Arianuz Rahgsa had only just arrived at the ARC and had managed to miss all the drama of the day. Becker filled her in, staring at the ceiling as he did so. He told her everything, bar Ben and the armoury. He decided that should remain a secret as he didn't want Ben getting in trouble for it. "So these kids," Arianuz started. "There's a tall, dark-haired boy of about sixteen, right?"

Becker nodded. "Yeah, Ben."

"I think he wants to see you," she commented, wrapping a bandage around his arm and the splint. Turning his head sharply, Becker saw Ben's face at the door, looking worried. "I'll let him in. He can keep you company while I sort out the plaster."

"Are you OK?" Ben asked quietly, standing just inside the door.

"Apart from this, I'm fine," Becker told him, waving at his arm.

"I wanted to apologise." Ben glanced round, checking no-one else was nearby. Dr. Rahgsa was in the next room but the door was closed, so he continued. "I... I was wrong before. I shouldn't have done or said what I did. If the safety had been off..." Ben shivered at the thought. "I guess I just wasn't thinking straight. Sorry." He whispered the last word, then turned to leave.

"Wait," Becker said. "Come here." He indicated the chair next to him. "You're right, you shouldn't have said or done any of it. But it's my fault as well. Well, it's my fault in a really weird way, 'cause I haven't actually done any of it yet, but that's irrelevant. We need to sort this out if you're going to be working here." Ben smiled slightly at that. "And I think the first job is going to be teaching you how self-control." Ben laughed and Becker smirked at him.

Arianuz entered the room again and surprised them both by smiling at them. "You're his grandson, right?" she asked Ben. "You have to be, you look well similar."

"Yup, even had to inherit his stupid name."

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Not important," Becker butted in, shaking his head slightly at Ben, who grinned.

"A secret," Ben told her. "Sorry and all that, but if I told you I'm afraid we'd have to kill you."

She raised one eyebrow but didn't push the issue. "I'm going to need peace and quiet while I put the plaster on, so I'm going to need you to leave," she told Ben, moving over to Becker.

"Sure thing, doc," he said, jumping to his feet. "Just one thing though," he said, turning back as he reached the doors. "You might want to check his nose. Someone kinda broke it earlier." With that, he left.

Arianuz shook her head. "Cheeky monkey," she muttered, getting on with her job.

"You look too young to be a doctor," Becker said, watching her carefully.

"I am," she admitted, sighing. "I turned twenty a couple of weeks ago. My parents were both doctors, so instead of going to college and uni, they just taught me and sent me for the exams. So I have got qualifications, honest."

"I'll believe you."

"Now, if you'd stop flirting long enough to let me sort your arm out, I might just be able to do something about that nose of yours," she teased.

"I'm not flirting!" he protested. "I was only thinking out loud." She laughed at this. He knew he'd never flirt with her intentionally, knowing it would hurt Jess and that if he did he'd never be able to have kids. Abby would make sure of that.

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**If you can forgive me, please review. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far, reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Rx**


	15. Chapter 15

**Only short, but I've already decided the last sentence and started the next chapter before I'd written this one, so it had to end here. Thanks for the reviews from the last one, and I hope you all like it.**

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Fully fixed up, Becker re-entered the main room to find it a war zone. Matt and Ben were arguing, both looking furious.

"You shouldn't have shot him!" Ben cried. "It was stupid and irresponsible. You're team leader, you're supposed to protect your team, not bloody injure them!"

"It was a mistake," Matt replied.

"Have you never heard of looking before you shoot?"

"Yes, but if I think my team is in danger, I will do whatever I have to to save them."

"You could have killed him! You'd set it too high. Whatever creature you shot would have died from the shock. He's lucky to be alive!"

Matt ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Yeah, well, he's not," he said shortly. "And if you are going to be a member of this team, then you are going to have to trust and accept my decisions. Is that understood?"

Ben opened his mouth. "Fu-"

Becker quickly made his presence known and interrupted before Ben could get himself fired before he'd even started the job. "She thinks my nose will still look OK, so it looks like I don't have to kill you this time," he said, smiling at Ben as he span round.

"How you feeling?" he asked quickly.

"Well, I can walk, which is an improvement on earlier. Mostly, dehydrated. Oh yeah, and I got feeling back in my arm, so if I bite your head off, I'm blaming it on that and the drugs they gave me." Becker sighed with relief as Ben stopped frowning and laughed.

"We need to talk," Matt started, stepping forwards, but Becker shook his head.

"Later." Turning to Jess, he walked over to her side. "What's happened to the anomaly?"

"Abby locked it while Matt was playing Cowboys and Indians," she smirked at him. Connor burst out laughing behind him, and Becker had to smile again. "So now we need to say goodbyes."

"What?" The smile vanished and Becker frowned at her. She looked upset, as did Rebekah, who was clinging to her leg.

"The fact that Sam came through the anomaly tells us that it leads to the future and their present. The only reason they stayed with us is because the other anomaly shut. There's only one thing that can really happen now." Looking at the seven children she sighed. "You can go home."

* * *

**Please review, it may inspire me to update quicker than I have been doing and you won't have to wait another week for an update. Rx**


	16. Chapter 16

**OK, I just couldn't leave you hanging, so I've updated. Lots of thanks to _nothingwithorange_ and _Smile Please10 _for reviewing so quickly.**

* * *

"_You can go home."_

The words shook Becker. They would be leaving! They'd only jut arrived but had already had a huge impact on his life. He knew part of his future and had heard clues that left him wanting more. But it was more than that. During the last day he'd started to grow attached to the children and protective over them, each with their very different personalities. Rebekah, frail and quiet, happiest when around Jess. Edward, tall and mature for his age, also quiet but never missing anything. Chris, clearly the same geek as his grandfather yet also having bravery to match. Stephen, willing to protect his friends with his life, going to become a heartbreaker one day. Jonathon, not as brave as his brother but clever and the kind of person who'd try to be what you needed. Isabella, brave, clever and set to be beautiful, determined to help and do her bit, with no thought for her own safety. And Ben. Ben, who was so angry and bitter that he couldn't always hide it away, yet able to swallow his pride and apologise later. Ben, who would run unarmed after his friends to protect them, throwing himself in front of them, willing to to give his life for theirs. Ben, so young yet so wise, knowing that what he said could change his timeline and making sure he never said too much. Ben, who hated him but had stood up for him, yelling at Matt when he'd shot him. And the way he cracked when he was with Sam, allowing himself to have fun and show love, no longer constantly watching and protecting his younger siblings. He was like Becker himself in that way. In those moments of fun, he became the child he should be. Sighing, he wondered what had happened to make Ben grow up so fast.

Suddenly, he realised that people had been talking to him. Looking round, he saw them all looking at him, Jess and Abby looking worried (Jess blushing), Ben rolling his eyes, Matt and Connor smirking. Slowly, it dawned on him what he'd been staring at while he was miles away, thinking, and he turned bright red. This was all it took for Connor to burst out laughing. He shut up quickly, though, as Abby hit his arm hard. For the first time ever he managed to not wince, probably 'cause he was getting used to it by now.

"Enjoying the view?" Matt asked. Becker glared at him and he quickly changed his expression to neutral and looked away, remembering that Becker probably didn't need too much of an excuse to hit him. Jess blushed even more at this statement, and she quickly changed the subject back.

"So, yes, now Becker's back in the world of the living, perhaps we can sort out what's going to happen."

"Yeah, 'cause we all have living arrangements to sort out. That flat is _way _too small," Ben agreed.

"I don't think you understood what she meant," Abby said. "She meant for you guys going home."

"I can't speak for the rest of them, but I'm not going. Not yet, anyways."

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"No," Becker growled. For all of his feelings inside, he knew what had to happen. "I am not going to put your parents through pain by letting you stay here. You're going back, if I have to drag you through myself!"

"Screw you!" Ben yelled, angry tears burning down his cheeks. "I'm old enough to decide for myself!"

"Please, let us stay," Isabella begged. "We can monitor the anomaly, and as soon as it shows any signs of closing we'll go straight through. Just let us stay for now."

Becker felt his resolve weakening as all seven of them looked at him with puppy eyes. He glanced at Matt, who raised one eyebrow and said, "Your call."

"You're team leader, you're the one who has to make all the hard decisions," Becker told him. Matt smiled sadly and shook his head.

"Not this one. You've actually connected with them, all I've done is piss them off. You choose."

Becker looked back at the kids and sighed. "I don't care if you'll hate me more, you're going," he said.

"Sir!" a soldier suddenly yelled, running into the room in time to hear Becker's last sentence. "We haven't a choice on that anymore, sir," he said, saluting smartly. "The anomaly just closed." Closing his eyes, Becker sent up a quick prayer of thanks to anything that could hear. Opening them, he watched the grins breaking out on their faces and he raised one eyebrow.

"Don't know what you guys are so pleased about," he muttered. "You're working under Slave Master Lester now."

"I heard that!" Lester shouted from the doorway of his office, where he'd been watching them all. Everyone laughed at Becker's face.

"Just as I was starting to like this job," he sighed.

* * *

**Next update could be a few days, I want to try and update some other stuff first. So unless I have a really good idea for the next chapter (which I don't so far) then it'll be on hold until at least one other story has been updated. And if anyone has any ideas for what could happen, please let me know in a review and I'll dedicate a chapter to you and your idea. Rx**


	17. Chapter 17

**So, I know I said that I probably wasn't going to update until later this week, but I couldn't help it. I just thought 'I'll write down this sentence, then I know where I want to start off', and before I knew what had happened, here was this chapter. And, technically, it is later this week than when the last chapter was published. Anyways, I wrote this instead of doing my coursework, so when I get in trouble tomorrow this will be blamed. Oh well. Hope you like it.**

* * *

"Which room do you want?" Abby asked, turning to Isabella and Chris after the tour of their new flat.

"Izzy can have the bigger one, she's older," Chris instantly said. "I'd prefer the office anyway, it's got a desk and laptop." He grinned mischieviously.

"I'd take the laptop away every night and check his door to make sure his light's off," Isabella said, checking out her new room. "Otherwise he won't sleep until God knows what time in the morning." Chris glared at his sister, who smirked.

"Now, don't fight," Connor said, glancing from to the other worriedly. He had no idea what he was doing with kids, and really didn't want to end up in the middle of a fight between the pair of them.

"We won't," Isabella told him matter-of-factly. "Chris knows I could kick his butt with my eyes shut and one arm tied behind my back, so he daren't try anything." Turning, Chris stormed off to his new room and Abby raised an eyebrow at Isabella.

"You know, you could be nicer to him. It's bound to have been a shock for him, all this. So try not to argue for a while, OK?" Reluctantly, Isabella nodded. "Great. Now, I'll go make a drink, so come through when you're ready. We'll go shopping for new clothes tomorrow if you want."

"Sounds good," Isabella said, smiling at her. When Abby'd left, she sat down on the bed and looked round. It was a simple room, slightly larger than Connor's office which would be converted into Chris' room, with only a single bed, small table and wardrobe. But it would do.

"Everything OK in here?" Connor called in, knocking on the door.

"You can come in," she said, walking over to the door and opening it fully. "It is your house."

"Yeah, but this is your room," he replied, standing in the doorway.

"Why have you even got two spare rooms?" she asked. "I mean, I get it that you have to have an office, even though there's nothing in there 'cause you're not allowed to bring anything home, but why not just have a campbed in there? Why have this room as well?"

Connor sighed. "Don't tell Abby," he admitted. "But I really want kids and I thought this would be their room."

Isabella studied him. "How many?"

"Two at least," he said confidently. "Of course, whether Abby will actually agree to marry me first has yet to be seen, but hopefully, one day, we'll have kids." She smiled.

"Why hopefully? Aren't me and Chris proof?"

"Only that I have kids, not that I'll be with Abby when I have them," he said, looking sad. "I'd best go help Abby with the drinks, or she'll kill me. Slowly. She's good at that." Turning, he left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts again.

Making her way out of the room, she entered the bathroom and stood there, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She had her mother's hair and eyes, not having inherited much of her dad, and seeing these features made tears prick at her eyes. She was close to her mum and looking at what could easily be a younger version of her made Isabella miss her even more than she had before. Hearing Abby calling that drinks were ready, she quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve and take a deep breath. For Chris' sake she had to be strong.

* * *

"Why didn't you bring any back here?" Emily asked, perching on the edge of the sofa and staring up at Matt, who was leaning against the opposite wall.

"Emily, my one spare bed is a pull-out sofa, and I'm sleeping on it. There is no space here for any children," Matt said quietly.

"You could still have offered!"

"Sure, it would have been nice, Ems, but I couldn't ask them to either sleep on the floor or share a room with one of us. Instead, I offered our place for weekends and evenings, seeing as you're always here and the rest of us are at the ARC. But it's up to you."

"Of course they can come," Emily said, smiling and hiding her worry. She'd never had to deal with children before, but decided that the trick was probably just to be confident and everything would go OK. She hoped.

"Brilliant. I'll tell the others tomorrow. Now, did you choose a film for tonight?"

"_Pride and Prejudice_," Emily told him, smiling. "I loved the book, and wanted to see how they portrayed it.

Stifling a groan, Matt pushed off the wall and went to sit next to her. "Sends great," he said, trying to show enthusiasm. "Never seen it, but it's supposed to be good."

Later on, partway through the film, Emily was curled up against Matt's side. Looking up at him slightly, she smiled. The fact that he would sit through a film like this, when his own choice would be something like _True Grit_ (his choice the week before and her first introduction to westerns), was just more proof that he liked her. Along with him always making sure she was OK, the over-protectiveness and the fact that he just couldn't keep his eyes off her. Going back to the film, she snuggled closer to him and as he wrapped his arm over her shoulder she smiled again. She was glad her feelings were clearly reciprocated.

* * *

"Nice place," Ben said, poking his head into the second spare bedroom. "Which one's mine?"

"You're not staying here," Becker told him. "We're staying for tea because Jess invited us. Edward and Rebekah are staying here. You and the boys are at mine."

"Cool," Stephen grinned. Him and his brother had taken over the TV remote and were already fighting.

"You're going to have your hands full with them," Jess said, smiling at them fondly.

"Too right," Becker sighed. "Positive I can't persuade you to take one in?"

"Nope," she told him, as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Are you completely sure you've got enough space for them all overnight?" he asked, concerned. "I wouldn't ask, it's just that I've only got a settee. I can go shopping for beds and stuff tomorrow, but they'd be sleeping on the floor tonight."

"Becker, we've been over this a hundred times by now. It's fine for a few nights until you get sorted," she said earnestly. "Now, what do you want to eat?"

"Let's not cook," he decided suddenly. "I'll call in a takeaway. My treat and a thank you for helping me out. What do you think?"

"Sounds lovely. Like Chinese? There's a nice one I sometimes use."

"Love it," he grinned.

"So do the rest of us, we have it at least once a week back home," Ben said from the hallway. "Did you stay we're staying here for a few nights?" He'd entered the room now.

"The boys are. You're with me, on the settee until I can get new beds. You OK with that?" Becker asked.

"Course," he replied, giving him an _obviously_ look. Jess laughed at this then went to call the takeaway. Ben sighed. "Do you think there's anyway you two could stop being so obvious with your flirting? 'Cause, you know, you're my grandad and it is kinda awkward watching you."

"So don't look," Becker replied, not looking at him but at Jess in the next room. Ben sighed again, rolling his eyes, and left the room, jumping between Jonathon and Stephen on the sofa and stealing the remote. Becker listened to them join forces for once, and laughed at Ben telling them that he was choosing because he was the eldest.

"You're secretly glad they didn't go, aren't you?" Jess said, re-entering the room and going over to him. "You may have told them to leave, but you'd miss them if they had."

"As would you," he replied, gazing into her eyes. Slowly, hesitantly, she slid her arms round his neck and reached up to kiss him as he bent down. Their lips touched and Becker's hands reached out to her, one to the small of her back, pulling her closer, and the other tangling itself in her hair, making sure she couldn't move away.

Suddenly, something occurred to him and he pulled his head backwards, breaking the kiss.

"Did you order prawn crackers?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Aw, crap!"

* * *

**Just so you know, this is set before episode 4x06. I put in that last bit because Ben and Ruth seemed to play the bit at the stake-out like a was an inside joke, so I thought this could be where it was from :)**

**Massive thanks to all my lovely reviewers - I love you lots! Please review, it will make me feel better after the deputy head yells at me for having no coursework. Rx**


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright, so, the whole updating-other-stuff thing isn't really going so well. But I just love writing this story so much and am having so much fun with it, I always end up coming back to this. So to anyone who's waiting for me to update the others, it may be next week when it's the holidays and I have nothing better to do. Does that sound OK? And sorry for the wait on them. Hope you enjoy this though.**

* * *

"Becker!"

At the sound of his name, Becker slowly started to wake up.

"Wake up, you fat bastard!" This was accompanied with someone kicking and banging on the door.

"Go 'way," he groaned, rolling over to bury his head in the pillow. However, he failed, due to the fact that he was right on the edge of the bed.

Hearing the loud thud from inside the room, Ben hurried in, stopping and bursting out laughing when he saw Becker. Becker had rolled off the bed, pulling his quilt with him, and was now laid on the floor, snoring.

Padding quietly over to the bed, Ben picked up one of the pillows and hit Becker over the head with it – hard. Yelling, Becker sat upright and glared at him.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," he snapped. "What is it?"

"Jess is on the phone," Ben said, chucking the pillow at the bed and wandering back out of the room. "She wants to talk to you."

"Tell her to give me a minute," Becker called over, standing grabbing his jeans and t-shirt from the chair. Once he was dressed, he stretched and left, grabbing the phone off Ben as he went. "Hey, Jess," he said, flopping down on the sofa and turning off the TV.

"_Hi Becker,_" she replied.

"What did you want?"

"_I was wondering what time you were going in today._"

"I'm not. It's my day off and I'm going shopping for beds and clothes for the kids. Why?"

"_Great. I was going to ask if you could give me a lift uptown on your way to the ARC, but do you think you could possibly give me a lift into town when you go?_"

He smiled. "Be there in an hour. How many?"

"_Just me. Matt's picking the kids up in about ten minutes. Emily's agreed to look after them during the day, while we're all working, so they're going today to get to know her._"

"One sec." Covering the mouthpiece with his hand, Becker turned to Ben and asked, "Do you want to go meet Emily with the rest, or go shopping with me and Jess?"

"I'm a small to medium," Ben said, heading towards the bedroom. "Enjoy your shopping trip."

Becker laughed and went back to the phone. "I'd best ring Matt, let him know there's another going over. I figured Ben might prefer to not get stuck shopping."

Jess' laughed echoed down the phone. "_See you soon,_" she said, putting the phone down.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "See you soon."

* * *

Knocking at the door, Becker waited a second then bowed when it opened.

"Madam," he said grandly, gesturing one hand at the car while still bowing. "Your taxi awaits." Glancing up, he grinned at Jess, who was beaming at him. Stepping out, she locked up. As soon as he was upright again she'd pecked him on the lips and skipped off towards the car before he could go any further. Shaking his head he looked after her and sighed. "You're getting to be a right tease," he told her, getting in and starting the engine. "Where are we shopping?"

"Blue Water shopping centre. It's just outside London but it's really nice and has some pretty cool shops in," Jess enthused, setting the sat nav. "Oh, and Matt gave us money. It's from the ARC and is to go towards the kids only."

"Thank God," Becker breathed, checking over his shoulder as he set off. "I was starting to worry about how I was going to afford it all."

The car stereo started as he pulled onto the road, and Jess stared at it in shock and checked if it was on CD before looking up at Becker, who was staring at the road, bright red.

"Glee?"

* * *

A couple of hours into their shopping trip and Becker had bought everything he needed. He still hadn't got over the embarrassment of his CD from earlier, but was surprised to find himself actually enjoying a shopping trip.

"Need anything else?" he asked Jess, teasing her gently about the six bags she was holding. Not to mention the four she'd dumped on him. He'd managed to get away with only two of his own, and the beds were being delivered the next day.

"Hilary Becker, you can never buy too many clothes," she said mock-sternly.

After glancing round to see if anyone had heard her, he leant in and whispered, "Please don't call me that, Jessica!"

"I could murder a coffee and cake," she said, ignoring him and glancing round. He raised an eyebrow at the subject change, but ignored it.

"Well, I can save you some money on this one," he said, setting off towards the exit and leaving her hurrying after him. "How do you fancy a drink at mine? I'll get the cakes at home, the bakery round the corner sells better ones than this place will."

"I'd love to," she said breathlessly, finally catching him up and smiling up at him. He smiled back, feeling truly content for once. "So long as we don't have to listen to Glee on the way home." His smile faded and he mock-glared at her. She smirked.

"Fine," he said, raising one eyebrow. She stopped breathing at this, he looked so handsome and perfect. "The other choice is Motörhead." It was his turn to smirk now, at the look of dismay on her face.

"I vote no music!" she cried hurriedly, as they headed off to the car again, Becker laughing happily.

* * *

**Hehe, just had to put in the Glee :) If I got the name to the shopping centre wrong, I'm sorry, it's been a few years since I went there. We only went 'cause I was a clumsy idiot and fell in some mud while wearing the only pair of jeans I'd taken on holiday with me... :S Anyways, thank you to all my lovely reviewers! Can't believe I'm on 99 reviews, it's like a dream come true. The person who does the 100th review gets to choose something for the story, whether it's a chapter storyline/new character/etc. Oh yeah, and you'll get lots of love off me, a chocolate cookie and a quick update for lots of reviews of people. ****Seeing as it's Valentine's Day, I'm going to try and finish off the next chapter tonight. Rx**


	19. Chapter 19

**Well, I did promise another chapter tonight. This one's a Valentine's Day special, so expect pure Jecker :) A massive thank you to _Smile Please10_ and _Primevalfan32_ for your incredibly quick reviews. This is for everyone who's asked about our favourite couple, so enjoy!**

* * *

Opening the door to his flat, Becker held it for Jess.

"Make yourself at home," he called to her, going and dumping his bags in the spare room before going back for hers. "I'll stick your stuff in here out of the way."

"Cool," she replied, trailing her fingers over one of the side tables as she looked round her. His flat was simple yet homely, with only a couple of photographs for decorations. One was of two adults with a child, probably family. The other interested her more and she picked it up, touching the glass softly. It was of a woman staring off into space, lost in thought. "Sarah," she breathed, recognising Becker's old team-mate.

"That was taken the day before they left," Becker said quietly from the other side of the room. Jumping slightly, Jess span round and hid the photo behind her, feeling guilty.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have been prying, it's none of my business, I'm so sorry," she babbled. Smiling sadly, he walked over to her. Reaching behind her, he pulled the photo carefully out of her grasp and put it back on the table.

"Jess. it doesn't matter," he told her, placing a hand on either side of her face. "It's only a picture."

"Do you still miss her?" Jess asked, searching his eyes for a truthful answer.

"With all my heart," he whispered back, eyes filled with sorrow. "For a while I couldn't cope with it. I quit. Then, they said Lester wanted me back. So I came to protect the team... and met you." He smiled down at her, some of the grief fading. "Finally, there was someone worth protecting. You helped me move on, with your bubbly attitude and love of chocolate without orange." Bending, he kissed her softly, then breathed, "Thank you," into her ear. Kissing her again, he moved his hands to her back, pulling her closer. She tangled her hands in his hair, smiling into the kiss. It became more passionate, and Becker pushed Jess against the table, hands exploring. Before they knew what was happening properly, both of them had discarded their jackets.

"What about the cakes?" Jess asked teasingly, smiling at Becker.

"Screw the cakes," he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Moving as one, they headed into his bedroom, and Becker kicked the door shut behind him before kissing her again, deepening it and biting down on her lower lip. She gasped and arched her body against him. Pulling off her shirt, he got rid of his own t-shirt as well and lowered her down onto the bed, then stared down at her, eyes dark. Grabbing his hand, she dragged him down and...

* * *

Leaning on one arm, Becker played with a strand of Jess' hair.

"You know, you really are beautiful," he said thoughtfully, smiling at her. She giggled and curled up into his chest.

"I guess this makes it official," she said, sighing happily.

"Yeah," he said, placing his other arm over her shoulders. Bending his head, he kissed her sweetly for a second. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he said, laughing quietly.

"What brought it on today?" she asked, looking up at him.

"You really have no idea?" he asked, surprised. She shook her head. "My, my, I'd have thought that you'd be the first person to know what today is."

"Hilary..." she warned, and he kissed her nose softly before whispering in her ear.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

**I'm scared. I've been reduced to written fluff like that last section :S Oh well. Please review, it will make my day so much better than it has been. And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Rx**


	20. Chapter 20

**OK, so, here we go. Thanks to all my lovely reviews, I'm glad you all liked the Jecker scene :)**

* * *

Sitting down at the ADD the next day, Jess unconsciously smiled happily. The previous evening had been just about perfect. When Matt had brought the children back, he'd raised his eyebrows at the pair of them but had said nothing, except to decline an invite to stay for dinner. Both she and Becker had been relieved by this, glad that it would just be those two and their family. That afternoon had been all the proof both had needed about who was Ben's grandmother. The only problem with that day had been that she'd had to go home later on. In both of their perfect worlds they'd be living together.

"Someone's in a good mood," Abby commented to Connor, watching Jess singing quietly to herself.

"Yeah," he replied, eyes fixed firmly on Becker, not realising who she was talking about. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen him like this. I mean, he's joking with Matt instead of trying to kill him." Abby looked at him, confused. "I'm being serious, Abs!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Connor?"

"Becker. Why, who were you on about?"

Ignoring him, Abby glanced across at the Captain and put two and two together. Ditching her boyfriend, she wandered over to Jess' side.

"Abs?" Connor called after her, before shaking his head in disbelief and heading back to his office. He was determined to make the Dating Calculator work this time.

"Looks like you had fun," Abby grinned, perching on the edge of her friend's desk. Jess blushed but couldn't help her eyes from flicking towards Becker. "Well, I'm glad he finally made his move. I was getting close to setting you up with Jack, just to see if he'd become jealous."

"Seriously, Abby?" Jess exclaimed. "He's your _brother_!"

"Proves how desperate it was getting," she replied, swinging her legs.

"And I don't know what you're talking about. Who's supposed to have made his move?" Jess quickly continued, realising what Abby'd said.

"You know," she smirked, before jumping down off the table and hugging Jess. "I'm pleased for you, I really am. And, I swear, I'll try and stop it from becoming office gossip before you want people knowing. You can trust me. But, since I already know, you can tell me everything." Jess grinned at her.

"Agreed."

Almost as soon as Abby had gone, Becker was there, crouching next to her and rocking on his heels.

"So when's your next day off? I was thinking we could possibly go to the cinema. I know you really wanted to see a film but didn't want to go on your own in case you looked sad," he said, smiling at her.

"The Black Swan," she informed him. "I used to do ballet when I was younger and it looks really interesting."

"You did ballet?"

"Sure. My mum decided it would improve my balance and co-ordination."

"Well, she got that wrong." Gasping, she hit him on the shoulder softly and he tickled her in return.

"Stop!" she cried a few seconds later, curling up on her chair and giggling.

"What's the magic words?" he said jokingly.

"Please! Abracadabra! Hocus Pocus!"

"Nope." His voice had become quieter and more husky. Instantly, she realised what it was.

"I love you," she whispered, sitting up straight and smiling triumphantly when he stopped. Grabbing his t-shirt, she pulled him up until their faces were close. He tried to lean in and kiss her but she wouldn't let him.

"Torturer," he muttered, glaring and receiving a smirk in return.

"Payback," she taunted, dropping him. "If you're getting tickets, I'm free Thursday night," she said, turning back to the screen. He stood and leant in close behind her, kissing the back of her head.

"I'll book them now."

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him walk away. _'Thank God it's break-time and no-ones here,'_ she thought, relieved. _'It wouldn't have been a secret much longer if it wasn't.'_

"I thought you two looked a bit pleased with yourselves yesterday," Ben said, appearing out of nowhere. It was a trait he seemed to have inherited off his grandfather, and he certainly put it to good use. "I think you left some stuff at our house. Like your jacket. Did you know it's got a big rip in it? I'm sure it didn't when you were wearing it a couple of days ago. I mean, I could be wrong but..." He trailed off, grinning at her.

"Cheeky monkey," she said lightly, swirling round to meet him. "Oh, Matt wanted to talk to you. I think it was a welcome-to-the-team talk, though, so you don't need to hurry." As he turned to go, she called him back. "Ben? We'd prefer it if you didn't turn our lives into office gossip, please."

"What, me?" he said innocently, pointing at his chest. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"And keep that dog away from my computers!" she shouted over, making him laugh and call back, "It's not a dog, it's a Biejasokut!" She smiled. She reckoned she was going to enjoy having Ben on the team.

* * *

**Next chapter will be Ben and Becker, and I'll try and get that up as soon as possible. Please review, you've spoilt me with your reviews to this story and I'm now hooked on reviews :P Rx**


	21. Chapter 21

**OK, this one pretty much wrote itself. Dedicated to the wonderful _nothingwithorange_, who kindly let me use the idea after I read her excellent and incredibly funny story earlier. Go read it! So, enjoy!**

* * *

"Shopping?" Ben sounded mistrustful. "I thought you went shopping yesterday with Jess. Well, you were supposed to have done, but you clearly had better things to do." He smirked.

"Different type of shopping, Ben," Becker sighed, deciding to ignore the teasing. "This is food shopping. I want you there so that you can choose what you like. Plus, I can possibly buy you a phone as well. You'll need one if you work here."

"Fine, but only for food," Ben sighed theatrically. "I don't think I could survive on takeaways for much longer."

"Can you cook?" Becker asked as they headed for the car.

"Of course," Ben snorted. "My father's an ace cook and he taught me from the age of ten. I can cook more-or-less anything you want."

"Great," Becker said. "Because I'm a crap cook and if you don't cook then we really will be on takeaways forever."

"Let's get to the supermarket," Ben said hurriedly, speeding up and making Becker laugh.

"Slow down, you can't drive!"

* * *

"_Please scan item."_

Becker pushed the item across the scanner, muttering something under his breath when it didn't work.

"_Please scan item."_

Ben leant against the machine, smirking as Becker tried again.

"_Please scan item."_

"I bloody have!" Becker hissed angrily, glaring at it.

"Calm down, Becker, it's only a machine," Ben said soothingly, but it had no effect.

"_Please scan item."_

"Fuck you!"

"_Please scan item."_

"I just did!"

"_Please scan item."_

"For God's sake! Finally!" Becker cried in relief as the bar of chocolate finally scanned.

"If only Jess knew how much trouble she causes," Ben said dramatically, grinning in response to Becker's glare.

"_Please place item in bagging area."_

Becker carefully placed the bar down, much more carefully than he had the rest of the shopping, Ben noted, which had just got thrown down there in fury.

"_Please place item in bagging area."_

"Not again!"

"_Please place item in bagging area."_

"If you don't work in thirty seconds, I'll shoot you!" Becker growled, half-drawing his EMD.

"Oi, Becks, real bad idea." Becker raised an eyebrow and pointed at the gun. "Actually, on second thoughts, I think I'll stick to calling you Becker," Ben said hurriedly. "Grandad's too weird, you're too close to my age. Still, bad idea to shoot that, especially with an EMD. It'd get you locked up, at any rate, and you know how much Connor would laugh at that. Do you really need to give him any more ammunition against him?"

"_No," Becker sighed, shoving the gun back away._

"_Please place item in bagging area."_

"Shut up!" he yelled, completely pissed off with the stupid machine.

"It's easy," Ben commented, slipping past him and lifting the chocolate before setting it down again.

"_Please scan item."_

Collecting the rest of the shopping, Ben quickly scanned them all (each one working first time) and packed them away. "See, easy." Sighing, Becker leant backwards.

"_Unexpected item in bagging area."_

"Shit!" Becker swore as Ben burst out laughing. He _really_ hated those things, almost as much as they hated him.

* * *

**If you are one of the few people who doesn't hate self-service checkouts, please let me know then I can die in shock. I mean, they're almost nice to me but I still hate them for the times when they are awkward little sods! Please review, it means a lot and will cheer me up when I arrive home after working at a wedding fayre for four hours tomorrow :( So probably no updates on anything tomorrow, unless it's really quiet and I get all my homework done there. Rx**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you SO much for all your lovely reviews. After the wedding fayre, I nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but they woke me up and inspired me to write this. It's not amazing, but it's just a filler. Dedicated to E_smerelda Diana Parker_, who had the idea of Connor seeing the CCTV.**

* * *

"You took your time," Matt commented, glancing over at Becker and Ben as they arrived back at the ARC. "Thought you were only going for some food?"

They shared a look, Becker reminding Ben of his promise not to tell.

"Traffic," Ben invented, throwing his bag at the wall. "Bloody murder."

Matt raised an eyebrow but accepted it. Jess frowned, confused.

"But there hasn-" she started, until Becker interrupted.

"I'd best go do the inventory," he said loudly and Ben smirked.

"What was that all about?" Jess asked Ben, even more confused than before by Becker's behaviour.

"Ask me no questions," Ben said, grinning at her and wandering off. Passing Security, he happened to glance in and, seeing Connor, a plan fell into his head, causing him to smile evilly. "Hey," he said, stepping inside and shutting the door. Connor was absorbed in the screen and jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, Ben, what'cha want, mate?" he asked, glancing between Ben and the screen.

"Can you get CCTV from anywhere on that?" Ben asked, making his face look thoughtful.

"Yeah, course, it's the very best. Why'd you want it?"

"Today, ten past two, the Tesco's on Marsden Road." And with that, he turned and left.

Connor stared after him, mouth open. Spinning round on his chair, he decided to check what Ben had just told him. Scanning through the different feeds, he stopped at one, grinning as he recognised Becker. His grin grew and grew as he watched the tale unfold, and he started to laugh when Becker exploded at the the machine. Unfortunately for Becker, the CCTV camera was positioned directly above his head, so Connor could pick up every word he said.

"If you don't work in thirty seconds, I'll shoot you!" Connor howled with laughter at this, almost falling off his chair. Hearing the noise, Matt came to investigate and poked his head in.

"What's up, Connor?"

"You have got to watch this!" Connor told him, rewinding it a few minutes. Matt watched, eyes widening when he saw Becker, then smiling when he heard what followed.

"How quickly can this go round the ARC?" he inquired, voice sounding innocent, though the smirk on his face said otherwise.

"About... now!" Connor said triumphantly, hitting a key. "Oh, I can't wait to see Becker's face when he sees this!"

"He'll kill you," Matt observed, making his way back to the doors. "After all, who else would know how to send it round to everyone, apart from Jess who wouldn't do it in the first place?"

"Crap." Connor looked scared.

"Nice knowing you," Matt chuckled, before rushing off to see people's reactions.

* * *

Jess was doing yet more paperwork when her computer beeped, informing her of a new email. Clicking on it, she was intrigued as a video opened. The numbers in the corner identified it as CCTV footage, and she wondered why a video of a supermarket had been sent round to everyone. Seconds later, she was leaning closer to the screen as Becker just appeared on the screen.

By the end of the video, she had tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard. She felt sympathy for Becker, but could see they funny side of it as well.

"What's this?"

Glancing up, she saw Becker and quickly tried to shut the video before he could recognise it, but it was too late. Instantly understanding what it was, shock, horror and then anger flashed across Becker's face.

"TEMPLE!"

* * *

**Please review, it will make my day and hopefully keep me awake at school tomorrow :P Next chapter: More bonding. Will try and get it up tomorrow, but no promises. Could be weekend, depends. Rx**


	23. Chapter 23

**Sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I got distracted by other things. Like prom shopping :):) This chapter is dedicated to my Dad, even though he will never read it, simply because I am so grateful he can build things!**

* * *

Ben sat cross-legged on the floor, unpacking the box of wood. Becker was going through another box, and glanced over at him, confused.

"Have you seen the instructions anywhere?" he asked, straightening up.

"No," Ben lied, thinking about the booklet that had been thrown out of the window before Becker had re-entered the room. "We're not _that_ stupid, we can manage," he said positively, standing and chucking the box out of the small bedroom.

"If we make a mistake, I'm blaming you," Becker warned. "You're on thin ice, anyway. Why exactly did you tell Connor?"

"I didn't!"Ben protested. "I mean, something might have slipped out about Tesco's and a time, but I didn't tell him to look or even what had happened." Becker narrowed his eyes and Ben held up his hands. "Honest!"

Turning back to the wood, Becker ignored him. Ben was relieved. The silent treatment he could deal with. So far it looked like he was getting off a lot lighter than Connor had, who was telling anyone who'd listen that Becker was a madman who'd shot him. The official version was that Becker, being understandably provoked, had grabbed an EMD and threatened to shoot him, but the reality was that Connor now had a growing bruise on his lower abdomen where he'd been hit. Not that anyone had any sympathy for him, however. The entire staff of the ARC thought it hilarious, especially Abby, who Connor had tried to hide behind. She'd managed to hide it for thirty seconds though, long enough to tell off Becker. He'd also got off lightly. While Matt had brought it up at every possibly opportunity during the day, he also understood how Becker felt, and had only reprimanded him, with a warning that if anything happened over the next few weeks, he'd be suspended facing further action.

"Where do we start?" Becker asked finally, completely confused. Ben pointed to some random pieces and gave his suggestions.

"Just try and see what goes where?" Ben suggested, starting to fix pieces together. Becker joined in. Ten minutes later, though, he wished he hadn't as they sat there, staring at the Thing in front of them. Ben glanced up at Becker. "Well," he said. "It's not a bed."

"Amazingly, I'd worked that much out for myself," Becker replied, rolling his eyes. "It's no use. We need instructions. We're going to have to go back and ask for some."

"What, go back to the shopping centre?" Ben asked, worriedly. "Hell no! I'm staying right here! You wouldn't catch me dead in one of those places!"

"Well, then, looks like you're going to have to go to Emily's," Becker teased. "You're not old enough to stay here on your own, besides, you'd probably blow the place up."

"I'm sixteen, Becker, I'm bloody old enough!" Ben retorted, glaring. "I'm _not_ a child!"

Suddenly, an idea came to both of them at the same time.

"The other box!"

Leaping up, they rushed over to the box for the other bed and started rooting through it, racing to be the first to find the instructions.

"Ah-ha!" Ben cried triumphantly, jumping in the air waving a booklet.

"Give me that," Becker said, trying, and failing, at a stern face.

"Never!" Ben declared, a broad grin ruining the drama.

Attempting to snatch it off him, Becker swung his hand through the air, but there was nothing there. Ben had turned and run, keeping the booklet close. Becker chased him through the flat, finally cornering him on the small balcony leading from the lounge.

"Give it here," he said encouragingly, stretching out one hand.

"Fat chance," Ben snorted, ducking under his arm. Rugby-tackling him, Becker brought Ben crashing to the ground, nearly knocking over the coffee table as he did so. Ben stretched his arms up, trying to keep it away from Becker, but it was no good. Becker tickled him under the arms, causing him to squeak and curl up, lowering his arms to within Becker's reach. Becker snatched the booklet out of his grasp. Getting to his feet, Becker stood tall, holding the booklet high in the air, like it was a trophy of some kind.

"No fair," Ben groaned, climbing up and flopping down on the sofa. "You're old and stronger than me! And you know this place better than I do."

"Excuses," Becker taunted. "Just cause you can't admit I'm the best." Ben made a rude sign, causing Becker to laugh and someone else to gasp.

Turning, they saw Jess and Matt standing in the corner of the room, Jess smiling at them slightly and Matt smirking.

"Planning on growing up yet, Hilary?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow at them, the smirk growing even wider.

"Only when you do," Becker retorted, almost resigned to the use of his first name by now.

"Growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional," Ben quoted, putting his feet up on the coffee table and earning a warning glance off Becker, which he ignored.

"What are you doing here?" Becker asked Jess. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, obviously I am," he smiled at her and she blushed, "but I just wasn't expecting you." Before she could reply though, Matt had butted in.

"Is this supposed to be a bed?" he asked, sticking his head into the spare bedroom. "Only, you know, I think I've seen wardrobes that look more like a bed than this."

"Ha ha, very funny," Becker told him, rolling his eyes again.

"I needed to pick up some stuff," Jess said quickly, before a fight started. "I forgot the clothes yesterday, and as Abby's borrowed my car for Yoga, Matt offered to give me a lift."

"Wow, you managed to act like a gentleman for the first time ever," Becker remarked. This time it was Matt who made the rude sign. "They're in my room, we had to move it when we were making the bed. I'll just go get the bags."

"Just tell me, Hil, why does the bed look like this?" Matt asked, unable to let the subject go.

"No instructions," Becker said, pushing past him to enter the main bedroom and grab the bags off the floor. "And if you ever call me Hil again, I'll shoot you. With live ammo. Now, Jess, I'll take them down to the car for you." Jess smiled and went with him. Matt took the opportunity to try and make a deal with Ben.

"Hey, kid, if anything funny happens, you'll let me know, right?"

"I'll think about it," Ben replied, flipping through the TV channels and not even bothering to look at him.

"Anderson! Keys!" Becker yelled up the stairs. Matt sighed and left, leaving Ben alone.

* * *

**A massive THANK YOU to all my lovely reviews. Some of the reviews for the last chapter were the best I've ever had and really made my day when I read them :) Please review, and I'll try and update as soon as I can - hopefully tonight or tomorrow, as I have plans for the next chapter :) Rx**


	24. Chapter 24

**OK, so, here's the promised update. I'm not actually that impressed, but you might like it. So, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Dedicated to Dale Earnhardt Sr. - RIP. *hold up three fingers* He's drifting with the angels.**

* * *

Matt reached the bottom of the stairs, groaning when he saw Jess standing on tiptoes with her arms round Becker's neck, kissing him. Clearing his throat, he stood with crossed arms and raised eyebrows, smirking at the pair of them as they hurriedly broke apart, blushing madly.

"Finished?" he asked, setting off towards them.

"Shut up, Anderson," Becker growled, picking up the bags from next to the car. Then it hit him. "Oh my God," he gasped. "You left Ben on his own!"

"So? He's old enough," Matt shrugged.

"Doesn't mean I trust him!" Becker snapped. "There's stuff up there I _really _don't want him finding!"

"Relax," Jess said soothingly, touching his arm gently. "Go on. We're leaving now anyway." Smiling at her, he dumped the bags on Matt and charging off.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Becker burst into the flat. Ben looked up from the TV in shock.

"What?"

* * *

Ben was curled up the sofa, laughing.

"You seriously thought I was going to do something!" he snorted, laughing harder when Becker sighed and shook his head.

"Just because I've grown to like you, doesn't mean I trust you not to do something stupid," Becker replied, running a hand through his hair. "Mainly because you remind me of myself, when I was a bit younger than you."

"Wow," Ben said, finally stopping laughing. "The great Captain Becker messed around as a teenager and wasn't serious." Becker couldn't help but smile at that.

"I can have fun, you know," he told him. "Just because I have to be serious at work doesn't mean I'm like that all the time. Doesn't earlier prove that? Now, pass the remote. There's something I want to watch."

"No chance," Ben replied. "It's Sunday 20th February. That can only mean one thing."

"Oh?"

"It's the Daytona 500 tonight!" Ben said excitedly. "I never miss it! Besides, I've never been able to see any races before 2022. They only started saving them then."

"Races?" Becker was confused. Ben rolled his eyes.

"NASCAR, Becker, NASCAR."

"And that is?"

"Do you know nothing?" Ben exclaimed. "NASCAR is only the best motor racing in the world, and the Daytona 500 the best race!"

"If it's just a race, then it's not important. Now, pass the remote."

"Not important!" Ben exploded angrily. "Of course it's important! This race is massive!"

"Then how come I've never heard of it?" Becker asked, raising an eyebrow.

"OK, so maybe it's not quite so huge in this country, but in America it's bigger than American Football. At least, in the future it is. It might still be a few years off that yet. And this year is really important. It's ten years since Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in this very race. I want to watch it for sentimental reasons, as well as it being a bloody good race. If Jr. wins, it would be amazing!"

"Ben, it's only a race. Like I said, doesn't matter if you miss it."

"If you want to watch TV, go to Jess'. 'Cause I'm watching it, so tough."

"Fine," Becker conceded. "How long is it?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"Weather, cautions, fights, stuff like that. Hope there'll be a fight, they're always good fun. Though I think this is the year when Busch finally settles down a bit, which is a bummer."

"How long?" Becker repeated.

"A few hours." Ben smiled hopefully and Becker groaned.

"Fine," he said, gritted his teeth. "You win." _'This time,'_ he thought. Grinning, Ben turned the volume up. Becker watched the screen as cars shot round a track, a man talking about the race over it. "What the hell?" he said, as it skipped several laps, now showing a car crashing into the wall.

"It's not the actual race yet, Becker," Ben explained. "It's a tribute to Earnhardt Sr., the driver who died ten years ago. One of the greatest drivers who ever lived, and the "bad boy" of NASCAR, though he was loved. Earnhardt Nation, the fans of him and his son, they still exist and are going strong in my time."

"And you're a member, I'm guessing," Becker said dryly. Ben didn't even bother replying.

* * *

"I'm telling you, I regret ever letting him near that TV remote," Becker told Jess the next day. "For over three hours I had to endure that race. Sitting there, watching Ben jumping up and down, yelling with excitement at a bunch of stupid cars, going round and round in an oval. It's so boring! And his mind would change so quickly! Barely two laps after he'd been crying because the 88 car had crashed into the wall, he was screaming the name of some other driver, Bayne, I think it was. 'Don't you bloody dare, Edwards!' he cried. 'Let the Rookie win!'"

"And did the rookie win?" Jess asked, laughing quietly at Becker's expression.

"I have absolutely no idea," he replied, shaking his head. "I went to bed just before the chequered flag."

"Becker!" she said, pretending to be annoyed. "I really needed to know that. My brother's obsessed with NASCAR, but he can't get results from where he is with the army."

"What?" Becker asked incredulously. Jess decided not to tell him she was only teasing... yet.

* * *

**Just so you know, I'm one of the few NASCAR fans who isn't American. I blame my dad for being obsessed with it.**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers. Really glad you liked it :)**

**Not sure how soon I can update. I have loads of IT coursework to do tomorrow, and then on Wednesday I'm going to Macclesfield until Saturday. I'll try and write some more while I'm away, but not sure if I'll have internet, so I promise to update as soon as I'm back. Rx**


	25. Chapter 25

**So sorry it's taken me so long to update, what with the hols, coursework and being ill I just ran out of time to write :( But here we go! Two chapters in one night will hopefully be enough for you to forgive me. Even though I'm not really pleased with this one, and the next chapter is extremely short. Oh well. Enjoy anyway.**

* * *

"So, we've done the arguing, the fighting, the becoming friends, the bed building, the bonding over the TV," Ben ticked off on his fingers, grinning at Becker as he said the last one, causing him to scowl. "What're we doing today?"

"Well, I did have something in mind, but after last night I'm tempted not to do it," Becker said smirking, turning to walk away.

"Beck-er!" Ben groaned. Becker laughed and turned round.

"Maybe later," he said, "but for now I have to go do an inventory. I'll see you later."

"But what am I going to do? I'll get bored," Ben pointed out, watching his grandfather leaving the room.

Becker stopped in the doorway and called, "Go annoy Lester or someone. I need a break." He winked to show he was joking before disappearing.

Coming up behind Jess, he put his hands on her shoulders, startling her. "Ready?" he asked quietly, kissing her cheek.

"When you are," she replied, smiling up at him.

"Great. Give me five minutes to get there." Glancing around as if paranoid of being followed, he hurried off.

Jess stayed at the ADD, seemingly typing away, yet with one eye firmly fixed on the CCTV footage. Almost immediately after Becker had left the screen, she saw Ben leave the other room, looking round for something to do. Seeing her, he came over.

"Auntie Jess," he started, smiling at her. It had been decided that the children should call all the adults either aunt and uncle, as none of them were old enough to be their grandparents. Some weren't even old enough to be their parents!

"Yes Ben," she replied, glancing away from the screen at him. He was leaning on the desk next to her, looking exactly like a younger version of a bored Becker.

"Have you got any jobs I can do? Becker ditched me and I'm bored."

"Well, you could take this somewhere for me," she said, indicating a small, sealed box.

"Sure thing." He picked it up. "Where to?"

"Out of those doors, take the corridor to the right, third door on the left, along that corridor to the end. It's those double doors. Just leave it on a table for now." She pointed the first doors out. "And thanks." She smiled at him gratefully. Watching him set off, she waited until he'd left the room before turning her earpiece on. "He's on his way, Becker."

"He sure doesn't sit still for long," he laughed back. "I'll see you later on, though he'll probably be loud enough for you to hear when he finds out. My shift finishes at six, so I'll see you then. Cinema's at eight."

"I'll see you then," she smiled, turning off the earpiece and getting back to work.

* * *

Ben followed Jess' directions and entered a room in darkness. Flicking the switch, he was surprised to see Becker standing in the middle of a large room holding a gun.

"Hey, Becker, I wasn't expecting to see you here." He held up the box. "Jess asked me to bring this."

Becker smiled. "Great. Stick it on that table."

While he was doing so, Ben took the chance to glance round the room. It was long, with a bar partway and targets down the other end. A thrill of excitement shot through him as he realised he was in the shooting range.

"Come here," Becker said quietly once he'd put down the box. Ben walked over and stood in front of him, still looking round. He glanced at Becker to see him holding out a gun, with a massive grin on his face. "You were bored," Becker told him. "Let's see if this can get rid of that."

"YES!" Ben yelled, punching the air and hugging Becker as he realised what he meant. "You're finally going to teach me!"

"You can't be a part of the out-team if you can't shoot," Becker said seriously. "If you don't know how to protect yourself then you're a liability. Besides," he smiled at Ben now. "If I don't teach my own grandson how to shoot then Matt will never stop taking the mick out of me. Now, let's see what you can do." And he gave Ben the gun.

It was heavier than Ben had imagined, and he commented on this.

"A gun should be heavy," Becker said. "It takes lives and the heaviness reminds you of how dangerous it can be. Something that kills another should not be light or easy." He quickly ran through all the components of a gun. "Take a shot."

Aiming it towards the targets, Ben thought back to what Matt had said earlier that week. _"The safety was on the whole time."_ Quickly examining the gun, he found what he thought was the safety and clicked it off. Aiming it again, he took a deep breath and fired. His eyes squeezed shut as he fired, and he opened one of them a fraction.

"How did I do?" he asked Becker, who had raised one eyebrow.

"Surprisingly well," Becker replied, looking at the target. "You're not too far off bullseye. In fact, I'd say you've shot before." But Ben firmly shook his head.

"No chance. Like I told you, my parents refused to let me shoot. I've never been allowed to even hold a gun before now."

"In which case, you're a natural," he was told, making him grin. "Now try again, only this time don't close one eye. That'll move your target to the side slightly in your sight. Besides, if you have two eyes open, you've got twice the vision."

Standing firm, Ben raised the gun again. He steadied his right hand with his left, and aimed for the centre. He felt his left eye close and slowly opened it before firing. This time he didn't need to ask where the bullet had gone. He knew inside that it had been bang on target.

"I was right," Becker said slowly. "You are a natural. You don't need me at all." Before Ben had the chance to reply, a piercing alarm rang throughout the building. "Anomaly," Becker explained, grabbing an EMD from the table next to him. "Bring a gun and meet me in the main room in five. You're coming." Ben felt both excitement and fear surge through him at the thought of facing his first anomaly and creature as a member of the ARC team.

* * *

**OK, so, yeah, I'm not over enthusiastic about this chapter. But whatever. One more chapter going to be uploaded tonight, and then it will be a while before anything will be updated. Here's why.**

**Lent starts tomorrow, and I'm giving up usual stuff - chocolate, sweets, fizzy drinks, etc. However, I am also setting myself the challenge of giving up the two things I love doing the most and what I spend all my time doing - writing and singing. This is going to be really difficult, but I am determined to stick to it, if not just for the fact that my coursework might get finished now. So, come Easter, I should have plenty of ideas (if I can remember them for that long - I'm not allowed to plan either!) and I promise to update at least all my Primeval stories then.**

**Thank you to all my lovely reviewers - I love all of you so much! You can all have a pancake :) Please review these chapters and let me know what you think - all reviewers will get a massive cyber-Easter Egg of your choice, along with the usual cyber-muffin. Rx**


	26. Chapter 26

**OK, so, last chapter before Lent and my giving up of writing! I hope it isn't a disappointment and sorry for the length, I just wanted a short chapter for this bit.**

* * *

Ben stood in the Forest of Dean staring at the open anomaly. For something so unpredictable and dangerous, it really was beautiful.

"Where does it lead?" he asked as Becker set about starting to lock it.

"I don't know and, to be honest, I don't particularly care," Becker commented, glancing up at him. "So long as nothing's come through, it can just shut soon with me left none the wiser as to those questions." He checked his watch. "Jess, how's that back-up doing?" he asked over the earpiece.

"Matt, Abby and some soldiers should be there in the next couple of minutes," Jess told him.

"Tell him to hurry up. For some reason I don't like this." A growl from nearby interrupted him, causing the pair of them to point their EMDs into one of the nearby bushes. "If I get attacked, don't shoot me," Becker whispered. "That won't help."

Ben opened his mouth to reply, but ended up firing instead as a raptor leapt out at that. Both of the shots ended up missing and the raptor landed on the wet grass, skidding towards them. Becker's next shot didn't miss, and it collapsed, shuddering on the ground. Silence fell on the clearing once again.

"Not too bad," Ben commented, glancing up at Becker.

But he'd spoken too soon.

Another raptor attacked them from behind. Ben got bowled off his feet and ended up lying next to the other raptor. He faintly heard a car stop in the distance but he paid it no attention. All he could see was Becker, unconscious, being dragged into the anomaly by the raptor!

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm evil. I'm posing an evil cliffie like this then leaving the story for nearly seven weeks because of Lent. Oh well. I like being evil :D Please review, it will cheer me up when I get depressed from not being able to write! Rx**


	27. Chapter 27

**Okay, I'm back :D Lent is finally over and I can finally start writing again! XD Even though it took me all week to write this thanks to writer's block and forgetting my ideas :\ So, yeah, it's not as good as I'd like, but at least it's an update and hopefully I should find some ideas in time for the next chapter.**

**Anyways, thank you to all my lovely reviewers! Sorry it's been so long. My next update could unfortunately be a while, due to the fact that I want to update my other stories and I also have loads and loads of revision to do for my exams in 3 weeks, but I'll do my best, I promise.**

* * *

Matt ran into the clearing slightly ahead of Abby and the soldiers. His quick eyes took in everything instantly.

"Alright. Abby, check Ben. Rob, secure the area. Diane, lock the anomaly then help Rob." Switching on his earpiece, he spoke into it. "Jess, we're at the anomaly site now. There's been an incursion and Ben's got injured. There's no sign of Becker but I'm gonna try calling him now, he might just be looking for the creature. Can you tell me where his black box signal is?"

"It's not there, Matt." Jess' voice was laced with worry. "According to the computer, the signal vanished around five minutes ago, just as you arrived."

"He must have lost it, Jess," Matt said reassuringly, glancing round again. The anomaly was now locked and the two soldiers were lost among the trees. He walked over to Abby, keeping an eye out for any stray animals. Crouching down beside her, he touched her shoulder lightly. "Raptors," he said, nodding over at the unconscious creature nearby. "Will he be okay?"

"Yeah, he should be," Abby replied. "I think he just got knocked over. He hit his head on this rock, that's what knocked him out." Standing, she finally noticed what was wrong. "Where's Becker?"

"That's what we were wondering." Matt stood up next to her. "Try and wake him up, he might know what happened." Turning to scan the area again, he spoke into his earpiece. "Becker? Becker, can you hear me?"

"Matt, he's conscious," Abby called over, helping Ben to sit up. Matt hurried over.

"What happened, kid?" he asked. "Where's Becker?"

Ben looked shell-shocked and on the verge of tears. Slowly, he pointed at the anomaly. "He's through there," he whispered. "The raptor hit us from behind. I fell here and hit my head. The last thing I remember seeing is Becker, who was unconscious. The raptor was dragging him through the anomaly."

Matt and Abby looked at each other. Matt moved his head slightly to the side, and the pair of them walked a few paces away from Ben.

"What do we do now?" Abby asked worriedly.

"The rules are that no-one goes through," Matt said quietly. "That's not just my rule, but Becker's. He wouldn't want us going after him.

"We can't just leave him there, though," Abby argued. "We've got to go after him!"

"Guys, what's going on?" Jess asked over the earpieces. They looked at each other, and Matt sighed.

"We have a small problem here, Jess. Becker's on the other side of the anomaly, it's locked and the rules say that no-one goes through."

Jess was speechless. Becker, stuck in the past!

"Matt, we have to do something!" she cried. "Shall I send a team to go through after him?"

"Jess, no," Matt said, still looking at Abby. "Becker obeyed that rule more than any other. If we go through after him, he won't be happy about it."

"But we have to," Jess whispered, starting to cry. "We have to get him back."

"Matt, if it were Emily in there, you'd have gone through by now. I'll go after him," Abby said firmly. "That way I'll get in trouble with him and not you. But I am _not_ leaving him there."

Turning, she ran over to the locking equipment and unlocked the anomaly.

"Abby," Matt called over.

"Don't try and stop me!" she called back.

"Actually, I was just going to give you this," Matt said from right beside her, holding out his EMD rifle. "And tell you to be careful through there. I'm sending Diane through with you, Rob can stay here to look after Ben, he's the one with First Aid training after all. I'll keep an eye out for any more raptors loose in the area." He glanced down at his watch. "If you haven't found him within thirty minutes, I want you to come straight back through. We can't risk the anomaly closing and trapping you there."

"Okay," Abby said quietly, nodding. She knew that if she hadn't found him by then, he would most likely be dead or dying. If he wasn't, he'd have made it back to the anomaly site. Taking the rifle off Matt, she took a deep breath and walked through the anomaly.

* * *

**Please review, it will make my revising all the more easier if I know that I have reviews to look forward to. Rx**


	28. Chapter 28

**Okay, so I have some pretty major apologies to make. Somehow, over 18 months passed without me even realising. There are a number of reasons I stopped writing:**

**1) I got a job, and lost most of what little of a life I had left**

**2) I started college, and therefore lost any free time I still had**

**3) My laptop, containing all of my plans and written but unposted chapters, was stolen and the flash drive containing back-ups broke (literally bent in half, it was quite impressive)**

**4) And last but not least, and caused by the last two of these, I got immense writer's block on these stories. In fact, my main reason for writing again now has got to be due to Primeval: New World reminding me of these.**

**So, sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry, but I promise I'll try and actually update now.**

* * *

"Where is it?" the soldier asked Jess as he skidded to a halt next to her chair, flashing her a quick smile as he put on black box and earpiece.

"Forest of Dean," she said professionally but still with a warm smile. "Matt's on his way there now, he was in the area."

"Cool." Running over to the doors, he called "See you soon!" over his shoulder as he left. Shaking her head fondly, Jess searched for CCTV in the area.

* * *

Stepping through the anomaly, Becker looked round him slowly and with relief. Being told what time an anomaly led to and actually seeing it yourself were two very different things, and he'd refused to believe his luck until now.

"Down on the ground!" someone shouted suddenly, and Becker allowed himself a small smile as his soldiers aimed their weapons, one patting him down as soon as he'd obeyed the order.

"Stop!" Glancing up, Becker saw the soldier who'd yelled running towards him and the next thing he knew he was being dragged to his feet and pulled into a hug. "Don't you ever do that again!" the man said as he stepped back, a huge grin on his face. "We thought you were dead."

"For a time so did I," Becker replied slowly, looking him up and down. Then it clicked. "Ben."

"Yes sir," Ben saluted, smirking. "All grown up."

"How long have I been gone?"

The smile faded. "Over eighteen months. A lot's changed."

"So, finally back from your holiday," Matt interrupted as he arrived in the clearing.

"Yeah, thought I'd best come back before you destroy the ARC entirely." Becker's eyebrows rose slightly as he caught sight of the ring on Matt's left hand. "Clearly congratulations are in order."

"Thanks, though congratulations yourself." When Becker looked confused, he glanced at Ben. "Not told him yet?"

"You'd best come with me," Ben told Becker. "You'll be wanting to see Jess."

_He's in for a shock_, Matt thought as he watched the pair walk away before turning back to the soldiers. "Well stop staring and lock this anomaly," he ordered.

* * *

"Becker!"

Becker had barely walked into the main room at the ARC when Jess was in his arms, holding him tight while crying. Kissing her forehead, he stroked her hair softly and smiled sadly.

"I missed you," he said quietly.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she cried, reaching up and kissing him.

"Jess, you'd best take him home. I'll keep an eye on things here for you," Ben offered. "The anomaly was quiet enough, if we get another I'll find your back-up."

"Thanks," she smiled thankfully. "Come on." Taking Becker's hand, she led him back out of the ARC.

* * *

"You're looking good," he commented as she parked outside Matt's flat. "And this isn't either of our homes."

"No, but we need to stop here first. I'll be right back." Leaning over, she kissed him again. "I'm glad you're back," she whispered. Leaving the car, she disappeared inside for a few minutes. When she reappeared in the doorway, he blinked a couple of times and climbed out to join her. "This is your son," she told him quietly, not meeting his eyes. The baby in her arms stared up at him as Becker took in this latest piece of news. "Becker, meet Tom."

* * *

**Sorry again for just vanishing for so long, but hope you liked it! Please review if you did, it makes us writers feel so much better and can help us write. :)**


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